


beyond grating bones

by sieges



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Edo Tensei, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, M/M, Pining, Redemption, Sort Of, Uchiha Sasuke-centric, edo tensei!Sasuke, ship is not the main focus of the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-04-12 07:16:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19127212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sieges/pseuds/sieges
Summary: Sasuke’s redemption, ironically enough, starts after his death.AKA: Edo Tensei changes a lot of things. Sasuke does a lot more good dead than alive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

>   * Follows canon events more or less, but this has its own timeline aka order of events; certain elements or reasons for some things were changed for the sake of the story 
>   * Certain liberties were taken with the workings of jutsus and kekkai genkai
>   * This is what happens when you rewatch Shippūden and want more and better Sasuke redemption arcs 
>   * M/M – narusasu/sasunaru, but it's mostly just a Sasuke-centric fic 
>   * Entirely inspired by the scene of Itachi resting his head against Sasuke’s and saying he will always love him 
> 


For all his talk about reviving the clan and killing Itachi, Sasuke doesn’t actually plan on getting out alive in the fight.

And he doesn’t. It doesn’t shake him much. Itachi’s hard to kill. Just because Sasuke was able to do it doesn’t mean he’d do it coming back alive.

What does surprise him, however, is the fact that he’s awake, he’s back, and he’s still dead.

“Edo Tensei.” Sasuke says, the first thing to come out of his mouth the moment he realizes he’s capable of speech. It’s not a question.

The man in the orange mask cocks his head, voice much thicker, lower, and a lot more dangerous than Sasuke remembers it to be. He isn’t the same guy who was with Deidera when Sasuke took him out. “Welcome back, Sasuke.”

He talks with a hint of familiarity that Sasuke can’t share at all. He beckons him to come out of the wooden coffin, and Sasuke’s feet move on its own accord. “You can sit. We have a lot of talking to do.”

❁❁❁

The thing is, Sasuke doesn’t believe this is Uchiha Madara anymore than he believes that Itachi was a loyal shinobi to Konoha.

“Uchiha Madara died in his battle against Senju Hashirama.” Sasuke states firmly, because that’s an easier topic to talk about than his dead brother.  “Unless you’re an Edo Tensei too.”

“Nothing reanimated about me.” the man says lowly. His hand goes to his mask, and he gently lifts it. “I have just as much Uchiha running through my veins as you, if not more.”

The Sharingan of the man glows hauntingly amidst the darkness. It’s not enough proof for the claim that he’s Madara, but Sasuke has a feeling that whoever he is, Madara or not, he’s dangerous. Maybe even more so than Itachi, and that’s enough to get Sasuke to listen. Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean he’s stupid.

Besides, he wants to know what this man has to say. How much bullshit can it take for him to find a way to justify every sickening thing Itachi has ever done?

❁❁❁

Not much, as it turns out.

❁❁❁

He tells Sasuke about Itachi’s mission, and then his Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan, and how he wants Sasuke to help him complete his mission of collecting the last jinchuurikis remaining to make the plan come to fruition because they’re short on manpower. Sasuke doesn’t understand why Madara thinks it matters to him. He’s never had any altruistic intentions towards anything except for a few people, and the doing-it-for-the-world thing is too vague and unfair, considering what it’s done to him and his slaughtered family.

Besides, he’s sick of everything being a lie.

There’s a single candlelight that stands in between them, illuminating their surroundings to show that they’re inside a room with stone walls. Sasuke thinks it’s a cave. He thinks of Itachi, likely kneeling in a dark place like this, Danzo’s back turned to him as he gave the orders for their entire family’s execution. Sasuke doesn’t want to be here. He’s not supposed to be.

“What makes you think I’ll follow your orders?” he asks, the moment Madara — or not, he still isn’t sure about this man’s identity — finishes.

“I don’t.” says Madara, easily. “But our interests align. All I really need is for you to do what you do best.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. “And what’s that?”

Even with the mask, he can hear the smile in Madara’s voice. “Be an avenger.”

❁❁❁

The only reason Sasuke doesn’t admit defeat to his exhaustion of— not being alive, per say, because he isn’t, but being among the _living_ _—_ and refuse to do as Madara says is because even death can’t stop him from feeling hatred. The Konoha elders are still alive, _Danzo_ is still alive, and Itachi isn’t.

And in any case, he feels like if he calls it quits right then and there, it wouldn’t stop Madara from using his body regardless to use it to attain his goals. Better to cooperate when he still has control over himself.

Frankly, Sasuke doesn’t understand why he’s being given this much freedom. He can speak his mind without worry of his control being taken from him, and can react and move the way he wants to as well. He can use the same techniques, but for longer periods of time because his chakra doesn’t have a limit. In the short span of them spending time together, he has managed to annoy Madara by answering back and generally having no respect, but not once has the elder ever threatened to take away his consciousness or ability to control his body.

There’s also this: the six-pointed red star that forms when he pushes a bit more chakra into his Sharingan.

“Mangekyou,” Madara explains, even though Sasuke already knew that. They’ve moved to another room, one with better lighting and with the semblance of a bedroom present, a small, single bed at the corner of the room with a desk at the other side. There’s a large, sole mat covering the ground in the middle; a full body mirror beside the foot of the bed, attached to wall and where Sasuke currently stands, scrutinizing himself. The room is too bare and it’s clear that it hasn’t been used yet. Even without saying anything, Sasuke knows that this is meant to be his room. “You awakened it right before your death, after your defeated Itachi.”

Sasuke died due to the injuries he sustained from his fight with Itachi, but he didn’t pass immediately, not like how his brother did. If he tries to look back at it now, the last thing he’d remember is staring at the raining sky through bloodied lenses. There was no more of that satisfaction he first felt when he was still standing against the slab of stone, seeing Itachi’s dead body, before collapsing beside it. Instead, it was only emptiness, a vague sense of tiredness, and an even vaguer notion of acceptance— that now, he can rest. He took his revenge; it was over. There was no more point.

Until now.

Sasuke continues staring at the mirror. He looks like himself, though with a new set of clothes, and since the genjutsu meant to hide the fact that he’s a corpse 24/7 doesn’t work on him, it’s obvious that he’s no longer part of the living. The sclerae in his eyes are no longer white, but gray; his skin is still pale, but there are cracked and jagged lines etched in different areas of his face and body. He’s an Edo Tensei at its finest.

Madara leaves him to his own devices with a few words of advice related to not getting caught, as well as Danzo’s whereabouts, status, and current activities, and he speaks to Sasuke as if he didn’t have the power to make him do all these things without problem because this isn’t really his body.

He talks to him almost as if he’s still alive.

The Akatsuki aren’t known for the goodness in their hearts. Still, Sasuke could almost guess that the reason Madara’s being so lenient with him is less on the fact that it makes putting up a front that he’s alive and acting on his own free will easier, and more on that he may have a soft spot for him. Maybe he believes in kinship, that they’re connected because they’re of the same clan.

Or maybe not. It didn’t stop him from killing majority of the clan in the first place.

Akatsuki’s supposed leader, Pein, was defeated in Konoha, at Naruto’s hands. Despite their victory, the village was half-destroyed, and the Godaime out of commission. Danzo is currently serving as the Hokage substitute and possible Rokudaime. A Kage Summit will be occurring soon, four weeks from now, involving all Kages of the Five Great Nations regarding the Akatsuki threat, which they’re only acknowledging now. Danzo, obviously, will be there. It makes things easier for Sasuke in the sense that he won’t have to go all the way to Konoha to assassinate him, though even if he did, he doubts it would be difficult, based on the intel Madara provided him.

Thinking of Konoha makes his skin crawl, not only because it’s the very place Sasuke considered home until he realized it was the same place that forced his brother to choose his duty over his family. Even when he was in Otogakure for two years under Orochimaru’s tutelage, when he wasn’t solely thinking about getting stronger and getting vengeance, his thoughts would drift to Konoha greenery, the faces of all the Hokages carved in rock, the soothing wind that would pass by to clear his head whenever he’d get frustrated because he couldn’t get whatever he was training right the first few times.

Briefly, he’s given a glimpse of Naruto’s profile, grown in his own way in the years they were far apart, fist outstretched towards him with his trademark eye-smile. The image isn’t from memory, because the last time he saw Naruto, there was nothing pleasant about the exchange, and the only thing he really actively remembers is the desperation in Naruto’s eyes and Sasuke’s own drive to get them out of his sight. He attacked with the intention to kill, but that was just meant to be a scarce tactic, or at least a warning that he didn’t want what they had to offer. If he truly wanted his old team dead then, it wouldn’t have been as dragging. Naruto was full of openings; Sakura was still blinded by baseless affection.

Now, hearing what Naruto had done, Sasuke isn’t so sure if the sentiment would stay the same.

He tries picturing what Naruto would look like, saving the day, but all he can imagine is still that stupid grin of his.

It’s not worth thinking about, he decides at the end. He has other things to do, and he needs to test how much he can do with his new body, and, according to Madara, with the new skills he acquired from Mangekyou that he hadn’t been able to use due to his death.

❁❁❁

In order to speed up the need for a summit, Madara orders Sasuke to retrieve the Hachibi.

Sasuke agrees because despite the leeway, he does know that if he pushes it, Madara will take the necessary measures to make Sasuke stay in line, and even though he’s still dead, he likes the freedom he has to do what he wants. It helps that he doesn’t have the patience to wait for a month anyway. Aside from testing out his new abilities and exploring the hideout he’s in, there isn’t much for him to do here. He doesn’t need to sleep or eat, and he never bothered to pursue other hobbies in his quest for revenge. If he wasn’t already dead, the boredom and restlessness would’ve killed him.

He inquired about Hebi, because even though he’ll never admit it, he did care for them, to some extent. He doesn’t know if Suigetsu managed to defeat Kisame and get his Samehada, or if Karin and Juugo are waiting for him to come back from his fight with Itachi. Madara tells him they’ve retreated back to Oto under Sasuke’s supposed orders, having Zetsu impersonate him so accurately that even Karin didn’t notice. Sasuke’s doing the jinchuuriki retrieval alone; Madara says he has enough skill and the advantage of reanimation to not need any help, and while Sasuke doesn’t doubt that, he thinks it would’ve been nice to at least see his team one last time.

He’s been officially dead for a month, and has been an Edo Tensei for about a week. He wonders if anyone’s asked about him, thought about him. These weren’t thoughts he ever entertained before, but then again, back then, before Itachi, he was single-minded, never capable of seeing past what he wanted.

Now, it’s— it’s maybe the same. Even in death, even in after-death, even in learning about the pointlessness of both his and Itachi’s death, he still can’t change.  

The thought doesn’t sit well with him, so Sasuke pushes it away and focuses on the map Madara had given him to Kumogakure.   

❁❁❁

Karin will always be the best when it comes to chakra sensing and identifying, in Sasuke’s opinion, but jinchuuriki, whether or not their bijuus are active or not, have a certain chakra around them that is just distinctively _them_ , so he finds the Hachibi easily enough without any outside help.

Madara’s information hadn’t extended to where he could specifically find the Hachibi, but a general location was given, common sightings gotten from various sources that were helpful, something useful enough to serve as a starting point. For a dead man who isn’t actually capable of feeling — in the end, he’s a corpse through and through — Sasuke can sense the jinchuuriki’s chakra emitting from one of the mountains far from its civilization. He wonders if it’s on purpose, and then wonders whether Naruto being shunned by the village was better, as compared to the alternative fate of being completely closed off and not even involved.

It’s good that summoning contracts don’t break even after death, so Sasuke’s able to use one of his hawks to fly towards his destination without much difficulty. He descends on the top of the mountain, a large flat area with an open field and chain walls placed on the outer ring, trying to stop any intruders from easily passing by. At the center of everything is a large temple-structure, which he senses the resonation of Hachibi’s chakra.

There are guards stationed right outside the walls, but they’re only two, and Sasuke defeats them easily enough, placing one under a genjutsu and knocking out the other one. Security is flimsy, he thinks, as he jumps over the wall and lands silently on his two feet. In the open field ahead of him, there aren’t any traps laid out, his Sharingan unable to process anything but bare land. Regardless as to whether they were trying to keep the jinchuuriki in here or attackers out, Sasuke thinks they’re doing a poor job at it.

The Hachibi is inside the temple-like structure standing at the center. Sasuke rests his hand on his sword’s hilt, done half out of reassurance and another out of anticipation, something meant to ground him for what’s to come. He isn’t that concerned about this mission, and he doesn’t want to be part of a false world, but he knows doing this would mean Madara’s full trust, regardless of the fact that he thinks he has almost more than half of it already.

He senses the Hachibi’s chakra moving closer, emerging from the underground exit of the temple. He’s rapping something under his breath that Sasuke can’t make out, but he isn’t really focused on that. He doesn’t know if the Hachibi’s jinchuuriki — Killer Bee, he thinks, is his name — has sensed his presence yet, but in the end, it doesn’t matter, because Sasuke disappears in a Shunshin and attempts to land an attack above the jinchuuriki because he wants to get this over with.

Predictably, it’s not that easy. Bee easily blocks it in an instant with his own sword, all while trying to attack back with another sword he’s drawn with his free hand. Sasuke blocks it back, jumping over the side swing, but pulls away entirely when somehow Bee manages to get a third sword using his mouth.

He puts a few meters between them, assessing the situation. Killer Bee now has seven blades on him, a kenjutsu style Sasuke’s never seen before. The moment Bee launches himself at Sasuke and starts swinging, Sasuke quickly realizes that his Sharingan can’t track it properly, Bee’s movements too unpredictable for his dojutsu. Sasuke grimaces. It doesn’t help that somehow, he can still make out the muffled raps coming out of Bee’s mouth as he continues his assault.

Simply fighting Bee with kenjutsu alone isn’t going to go anywhere— Sasuke knows this well enough, so he draws lightning from his sword, trying to hit Bee with it,  but the jinchuuriki simply retaliates by releasing lightning from his own. Sasuke underestimates the amount of lightning he can evade from his opponent, because then Bee uses that to his advantage and plunges all his swords into Sasuke’s body.

Sasuke expects to feel pain, but if it weren’t for the fact that he saw how the swords were sticking out of his body, he wouldn’t even know he got stabbed. The move puts him away from Bee, but his feet dig into the ground to stop himself from being pushed back further. He makes quick work of dealing with the swords, taking them out one-by-one, briefly wondering what Bee must be seeing if he’s standing still and staring at the sight of Sasuke unaffected by an attack that should’ve killed him. He doesn’t know if the genjutsu meant to disguise his true form is still in effect, but he can see how the holes in his body from the swords repair themselves through patches shaped like small pieces of paper sticking back to his body. Darkly, Sasuke thinks it’s good that he had died beforehand. A death at Bee’s hands would’ve been awfully gruesome and violent.

“As expected of an Akatsuki, but that ain’t enough to beat the Bee. Fool, ya fool.” Bee says, which hints nothing, but Sasuke suspects he doesn’t know that he’s fighting a corpse. Sasuke almost forgot he was wearing the organization’s cloak, but because of the battle, it’s already in tatters. It was nice while it lasted, Sasuke thinks to himself.

Realizing that Sasuke isn’t as easy to deal with as he thought, ominous chakra starts to coat itself all over Bee’s body, something the Uchiha recognizes because he’s seen Naruto in that state as well, albeit a lot more feral.

A bird flies past them. Sasuke glances at the sky. He doesn’t think Kumo reinforcements will be coming anytime soon. It’s now clear why the security of this place is so lax; Bee isn’t a jinchuuriki to underestimate.

Then again, neither is Sasuke.

Bee’s vastly different from Naruto, solely on the fact that he can utilize his bijuu’s chakra a lot more freely than Naruto can, all without having to relinquish his control over his consciousness at all. Sasuke can tell when they resume fighting; it’s still all Bee, just with enhanced physical capabilities. Though Sasuke can block, he can’t attack, and he knows he can’t keep this strategy up for long, regardless of the fact that he’s incapable of feeling exhaustion. Wearing Bee out isn’t likely either, since the Gyuki is more of the jinchuuriki’s ally instead of a last resort or something to keep at bay. Sasuke doesn’t want to fight for long either.

Genjutsu is what he’s weakest at, and he still doesn’t know how to use Tsukuyomi — it’s always been Itachi’s specialty, and isn’t it only fitting, because he practically fabricated the truth with an illusion that everyone fell for — but it’s the most effective way to subdue the Hachibi, so he does it. It’s simple to cast; the exact same one he used when he first ran into Naruto in one of Orochimaru’s hideouts. One second, he’s standing in front of Bee, and in the next, he’s inside his consciousness, standing in front of Bee and what he guesses to be the Hachibi, with its octopus tentacles and bison-like structure for its upper half. It’s a monster in all rights, but just like with the Kyuubi, Sasuke isn’t intimidated. Bee’s caught off guard with Sasuke’s presence here, and that shock is more than enough time that Sasuke needs to look into the Hachibi’s eyes and gain the control he needs to take them down.

But at the last second, a part of him falters. In the Hachibi’s place is the Kyuubi, and in Bee’s place is Naruto. He’s picturing Naruto’s face, full of fear, and the Kyuubi’s, full of fury, for things they never knew Sasuke was capable of. It should make him feel proud, because it means all he’s done and sacrificed wasn’t in vain, but all it does now is make him realize how no one truly knows anything about him. Not even now. It unsettles him.

Hesitating is his biggest mistake. The Hachibi’s tail whips Sasuke right in the torso, and he’s flying back from the inside of Bee’s mind and back to reality. He’s thrown off the mountain and lands on the water below. As his body recovers from the fall, he sees that Bee’s transforming, growing in size and chakra until it manifests into the beast Sasuke saw in his mind. It roars, the sound causing the water to ripple, and Sasuke lets himself get drenched by a wave that isn’t strong enough to move him before he stands on the water, already repaired. Genjutsu clearly didn’t work, and all it did was work Bee up more; none of his jutsus could truly make a mark on something that humongous. He tries pushing away the voice that tells him Itachi wouldn’t this happen.

That leaves one last option then.

Dead or not, Sasuke will never let himself get defeated if he can help it. He lets his Sharingan shift into its second form, the six-pointed red star staring into the large beast. Activating Amaterasu takes only a second, and blood drips from his eye and down to his cheek as the black frames appear out of nowhere on the bijuu, burning everything it touches. The tails of the Hachibi thrash mindlessly as the beast tries to escape the flames, half-roaring and half-screaming in pain. Even though Sasuke can’t feel in this dead body, he understands how it must hurt. It’s been a month, but he remembers Itachi’s own black flames on him like it was just yesterday.

One of the tails come down at him, but instead of dodging, Sasuke creates a chidori shaped like a long blade and easily slices the tail off, a portion of it falling into the sea, untouched by the flames. He watches as the beast slowly shrinks back into Bee, the fire still burning. When Bee’s finally unconscious, burn marks all over him that the bijuu in him can’t yet heal, or can’t _even_ heal, Sasuke extinguishes the black flames and walks back to the land.

The body’s not yet on the level of dead, but it’s close. When he lets his Mangekyou revert back to a normal Sharingan, he realizes that the Bee in front of him isn’t actually the jinchuuriki, but some fucked up version of a substitution done with one of the bijuu’s limbs, and that’s when he recalls the torn end of the tail that Sasuke let sink to the water. Sasuke can only tell the difference because he could separate Bee’s normal chakra from the Hachibi’s, something that he could do because of the time he spent with Naruto.

Sasuke looks down at the fake jinchuuriki, and thinks of  Naruto into this state, unconscious and burned, defeated and nearly dead. He hefts the Hachibi over his shoulder without hesitation.

He could almost swear he can hear someone demanding what the fuck he’s doing, but because no one’s actually there, he doesn’t bother with a reply. He doesn’t really have an answer anyway.

The only thing he can think about is how he doesn’t think he can handle being the one to do this to the last jinchuuriki.

❁❁❁

“Excellent work, Sasuke.” Madara remarks, as Sasuke drops Bee’s body in front of him. By Madara’s side, Kisame’s grin is sharp and predatory. So Suigetsu didn’t get him after all. “How was the retrieval?”

“Tedious.” he says, because he doesn’t want to admit it was harder than he thought.

Kisame picks up Bee’s body before disappearing into the darkness. Sasuke’s eyes remain on the spot where he went off, wondering how long it’ll take before they realize what Sasuke brought back wasn’t actually the jinchuuriki. They’ll think lowly of his skills, naturally, but the thought doesn’t bother him. It wasn’t for lack of skill anyway; he knows he could’ve taken down Bee if he truly wanted to. On the other chance that they see him as a traitor instead, well. Sasuke thinks he’ll be long gone and done with them at that point.

“The Raikage will find out about his brother shortly.” says Madara. “The Summit will arrive in no time, and you will get your revenge against the Konoha elders.”

Thinking of Danzo stirs up the bitter feeling of hatred that death couldn’t even erase, but Konoha, for some reason, makes him think of his hitai-ate, slashed at the center by Naruto’s claw and symbolic for his betrayal. He wonders where it is. “Hn,” Sasuke hums, before turning around, about to leave.

“Sasuke,” Madara says. Sasuke stops. “Itachi joined the Akatsuki because he wanted to keep track of our movements, but he also shared the same dream as us. He was a pacifist; he wanted peace. He wanted to change the world for the better. Now, with the Hachibi, we are one step closer to that goal.”

Sasuke knows what Madara hopes to gain from telling him this: a more solid allegiance on his half. But Sasuke doesn’t reply. He just continues walking.


	2. Chapter 2

When Sasuke was first brought back and Madara was telling him of his plan, he questioned, “Why me?”

He didn’t need to elaborate, because Madara already knew what he meant behind the question. If he had access to the Edo Tensei, he could revive some, if not all the members of the Akatsuki, people who would certainly be more loyal and follow orders than Sasuke ever could. He isn’t even a member of their organization, and even if Madara did revive him, though it’s unlikely, because only few are capable of using Edo Tensei, he still didn’t owe him anything.

“Because you have a Sharingan.” Madara said. “Uchiha Sasuke, the world doesn’t know you’re dead.” That, he didn’t know. He didn’t even know how long he’d been dead. The surroundings gave away nothing. “Your eyes can cast a near permanent genjutsu on anyone you come across so that you won’t have the same corpse-look the usual reanimated corpses have. Only certain techniques can take down an Edo Tensei, and it’s best that others don’t think to use it. I know illusions aren’t your strong suit, but it’s a simple one to maintain, and we make do with what we have.”

He didn’t know Sharingan-based genjutsu could work like that, function without the need for any bystander or victim to stare into his eyes. And yet, it doesn’t make sense. “Then why not—” Sasuke faltered, but then a second later, he gripped onto what was left of his strength and continued. “Why not Itachi.”

Madara didn’t reply immediately. Sasuke almost believed it was because he didn’t have an answer, but then Madara said, “Itachi was always soft. His heart belonged to Konoha just as much as it belonged to you, Sasuke. A man like that— he will never have the strength to make the sacrifice we’re willing to make for a greater good.”

Itachi’s heart belonged to Konoha, undoubtedly, just as it belonged to Sasuke, but more than that, it belonged to peace. As skilled as Itachi was, the most startling thing about him wasn’t his knowledge, wasn’t his actions, wasn’t his talent. It was his kindness, and what he’d done because of it. For it.

Sasuke blinked. “You’re wrong.” He told him. Itachi murdered his own family for the greater good. He slew his parents in front of his own brother’s eyes, and the only time he let himself cry was right before Sasuke fell unconscious. Madara, for all his supposed old age and wisdom that must come along with it, knew nothing. “There’s no one who knows sacrifice better than him.”

❁❁❁

He finds out how he’s revived on complete accident.

Sasuke spends the time he has reading up on the other Akatsuki members, despite the fact that he won’t really need to, because most of them are already dead. The sole female member, a purple-haired girl who goes by the name Konan, is a founder of the organization, but ever since Pein’s death, she had retreated back to Amegakure and is currently serving as its new leader. Madara had ordered Sasuke to deal with her because he wanted something from her in her village, though he hadn’t given the signal on when to depart.

Since Sasuke doesn’t know anything about her, he has to do some research.

He digs through the Akatsuki archives — he’s surprised they even have physical information about their skill set and specialties, a lot like a Bingo book, but infinitely more helpful, but they’re well protected, and Madara said the original members needed it to know how to go about when it came to forming two-man cells and giving out missions appropriate to them — because there’s nothing else to do when you’re dead and don’t need to function like a normal person. Orochimaru hadn’t talked about his experience with the Akatsuki or any of its members, so everything Sasuke soaks in from the texts are new data to keep note of. It helps that in addition to the information on every member’s powers and backstories, there’s also details on how they were killed. That part is what’s useful, in the end, because the majority of these people are alive, and they’re Konoha shinobi, Akatsuki’s enemy.

As much as Sasuke wants to avoid any contact with Konoha, because despite what they’ve done to his clan, it was the place Itachi loved dearly, and what Sasuke once called his home, he doesn’t know how long it’ll be until Madara finally gives him the mission to retrieve the Kyuubi. And Sasuke doesn’t think it’s an order he can exactly refuse without any repercussions.

In the meantime, however, his priority in the bigger scheme of things are the Konoha elders who issued the order to eliminate the Uchiha clan, and at the moment, Konan.

The archives are in one of the Akatsuki hideouts up north, far away from any notable places but technically in a land between Takigakure and Otogakure. It’s cave-like, as most hideouts are, with hidden passages and dimly lit rooms. Spending two years under Orochimaru’s care has made him used to the darkness and enclosed space.

Sasuke’s walking through the hallways, thumbing through the pages of one of the books he got, searching for Konan’s profile, when he comes across Kabuto’s profile, listed under Sasori’s high-profile spies and Orochimaru’s smartest accomplice.

Then his Sharingan flares without warning, and the hallway he’s in crumbles into nothing.

Instead of the dark corridor he was previously in, he finds himself right outside the cave, surrounded by elevated earth, the place being a large, deep crater that houses the large skeleton of an unknown creature. The hideout was supposedly a graveyard site for the animals shinobi now summon, back when they roamed this earth instead of the other realms they’ve now taken refuge in by the time humans increased in number, power, and ambition, and drove every other species away from the world.

The pieces of his whereabouts don’t exactly fit together though, and he realizes a moment later that while he’s outside the hideout, it’s not at his own time, because now he’s standing in front of the wooden casket like he did the first time— in his first memory, but looking at it now, maybe it wasn’t that after all — and up ahead is Madara.

The chakra beside him is one he recognizes almost instantly, and it makes him sick.

Sasuke’s dead, but he was supposed to at least take Orochimaru down with him.

It’s not Orochimaru though, when he turns his gaze to the side. It’s fucking _Kabuto_ , Sasuke’s mind hisses, except he’s all wrong, nothing like the Kabuto he recalls. This one has scaly skin, an exact imitation of a real snake. There are hints of Orochimaru all over him, besides just the chakra, which is a sickening mix of the two of them, like the slitted, venomous eyes and the long tongue. It’s almost strange, looking at him, both Orochimaru and at the same time _not._

It takes a few seconds for it to occur to Sasuke that Kabuto’s talking, and that what he’s going through is a memory. He can’t move his body, but he can see through his peripheral, and knows that neither Kabuto nor Madara acknowledge him. Drawing conclusions is easy, especially when his mind supplies him with ones that seem likely. His senses are all active now, but he has a feeling that at the time, he wasn’t conscious enough to utilize it, to even remember this event happened. Seeing Kabuto’s face likely triggered the memory, which is why he’s here now.

“—of course, there will be more than just the rest of your precious Akatsuki that I will bring back for the war.” Kabuto is saying. “The previous Kages, for one, as well as the rest of the jinchuuriki.”

They’re striking a deal, working together. Sasuke isn’t exactly surprised, especially because he’s proof enough of their agreement. Edo Tensei is an incredibly difficult jutsu to use. If Kabuto infused parts of Orochimaru into himself, which seems to be the case, then he can likely use all the same techniques Orochimaru could use on top of his own. The Edo Tensei is only one of them. And chakra aside, there’s a heavy aura Kabuto omits that just screams _danger_ at a level higher than Orochimaru’s ever was, and that makes him all the more appealing to Madara for the war.

“And once I retrieve Nagato’s body, him as well.” Madara adds. “But will they match to their living counterparts in ability?”

“Oh, rest assured, they will.” Kabuto tells him. “Though your White Zetsus are truly terrifying in how they are nearly limitless, where they flourish in quantity, they fall in quality. My Edo Tensei are leagues ahead of anything Orochimaru was able to accomplish. You will see, once I hand you Sasuke.” Why him? Sasuke wonders. Madara doesn’t say anything, and his expression is unreadable under the orange mask, but that just seems to spur Kabuto on even further. “I know that he’s one of the few you’re more interested in acquiring, and it would be a lie if I said I couldn’t understand. He’s always been a peculiar boy, practically radiating potential.”

Sasuke’s never really hated Kabuto saying those things to him as much as he hated Orochimaru telling him that when he was still alive, but now he does, hates it even more so than before. This is just a memory though, and he’s immobile and unconscious here, so he can’t do a thing about it.

“He’s an Uchiha.” is all Madara says, and Sasuke has no idea what that means. “But I don’t exactly understand your bargain. You offer an army of undead soldiers at my disposal, and what you ask in return is . . .”

“I know you have the answer.” Kabuto says.

“The answer,” Madara repeats, not quite following.

“To immortality.” continues Kabuto, tilting his head. _Immortality_. Sasuke thinks. _He should just be an Edo Tensei. It’s almost the same thing_. “It was Orochimaru’s goal, and Madara acquired it. A part of me still refuses to believe it, because Orochimaru has failed too many times, but you— this. It’s all different. It changes everything. I know it’s possible.”

The way he says it makes Sasuke frown, something off about his statement, like he’s not really talking about the Madara in front of him.

“I know the answer won’t come for free, so that’s what I ask, in return for these soldiers.” Kabuto continues. “So, do we have an agreement?”

“Uphold your end and don’t let me down.” Madara says, half-turning his body away. “If we win the war, then you will get your wish.” And then he disappears.

It’s quiet for a few moments, and then Kabuto stands right in front of Sasuke. He looks even more disgusting up close, too much Orochimaru despite how he can still recognize that it’s _Kabuto_ . And to think Sasuke thought he’d never have to see any semblance of that monster ever again, thought that Itachi’s Susano’o had eliminated any remnants of it in his body. “We have our work cut out for us,” Kabuto says, hand reaching out towards him, and even though this is a memory and he can’t _actually_ feel, the only thing that echoes in Sasuke’s head is _no, no, no, I need to get out_ —

He lets out a sharp exhale, and when he blinks, he’s back in the hallway. The books are on the ground. If he had a heart, he knows it would be beating erratically, but he doesn’t, so the fear and panic and supposed physical reactions he would’ve once had are all just in his head.

It’s childish and going overboard, he knows, but it doesn’t stop him from tearing out the page with Kabuto in it and burning it with Amaterasu. It’s stupid, how he feels so much better afterwards, and he clenches his fist. He was so powerless, and he has been, ever since he came back. The fact that he didn’t acknowledge it— no, he _knew_ , deep down, but he never even thought to do anything about it and that’s just—

Stupid. Inexcusable. It doesn’t matter their interests and goals align, if he’s given relative freedom to do and move and think as he pleases, so long as he follows his main orders. It doesn’t matter if he’s actually never been unlucky enough to run into Kabuto, either because of coincidence or because of Madara’s doing. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have the resources or the information, or that it might just be _impossible_ in the first place—

He has to break out of their control. Even dead, he won’t let himself be someone’s puppet.

❁❁❁

When he arrives at the Uchiha hideout he and Itachi fought, the stench of the black flames Itachi had activated remain in the air.

Sasuke walks around the debris and makes his way to the main room. Every inch and corner brings back memories of their fight, along with mixed feelings of regret for his ignorance and sick satisfaction for being able to do this much damage. He’s trying to get rid of the latter feeling, but old feelings and habits die hard, and the Uchiha were never known for their humility.

Coming here wasn’t his intention, but it was on the way to Amegakure, and Madara hadn’t given him a strict deadline on when he had to accomplish the mission and be back, just said to return in five days time maximum. The detour to here won’t eat enough of his time to make him delay, especially not when he isn’t planning on staying long.

Like the Naka Shrine, this far off Uchiha hideout has a secret backdoor that leads to underground halls, and it speaks volumes about his time with Orochimaru that the discovery of this isn’t even surprising to him, nor is the stench that enters his nose as he descends. Despite the mess the two brothers had made above, the underground structure is still perfectly stable, though it obviously hasn’t been used or visited in years, judging by the interior. He lights the hallways by spitting small fireballs from his mouth to the torches attached to the sides, noting how the walls are entirely bare except for the large Uchiha crest prints seen every few meters. For some reason, he expects at least one of them to be cracked, like one of the walls with the crest that Itachi had thrown a knife at in a sudden act of rebellion when one of their relatives were accusing him of murdering Shisui. He doesn’t know, to this day, if Itachi really did do it, or it truly was a suicide, even with what he knows now. He doesn’t know if knowing the truth would mean anything, if it would lessen his love for Itachi or make him angrier on his behalf instead.

The clan symbols are perfectly clean, however, free of markings made by weapons or any sort of violence, but the colors are slightly faded from time, and the walls are generally dusty. Sasuke doesn’t know what he thinks he can gain from searching here, but it’s the closest thing to a physical Uchiha thing he can get his hands on without going back to Konoha and visiting the compound, and regardless of all of his clan’s mistakes, they still are his family, his legacy. Sneaking in Konoha isn’t entirely impossible anyway, because despite Konoha’s tight security, many powerful nin have just breezed through it like it was nothing, and it wasn’t like his family’s district was swarmed with guards or even people.  

Then again, the Uchiha compound might not even be there anymore. He doesn’t know any logical reason for the place to remain there, untouched, when all its last members after the massacre are either dead or missing nin.

Well, _all_ dead, except when it comes to Madara. He still can’t truly wrap his head around the fact that the Uchiha clan are practically extinct, despite the easy acceptance he has about the fact that he’s no longer alive.

The hallways have turns, but it’s more or less a single path, and while possible secret doorways to other places might be there, he wants to see where the end of this one leads to. If it’s just a dead end or there’s something important instead.

The end of the route happens to be a stairwell leading up to the ceiling. Sasuke frowns, wondering if it’s on purpose or just a big error in judgement on the builder’s behalf when constructing this place. He walks up the staircase and presses his hand against the ceiling, pushing it slightly to get a better feel of its weight and if it can give.

At base level, it doesn’t feel any different from the rest of the ceiling, but when he channels chakra into his hand and closes his eyes, trying to use the few lessons Karin had given him on sensing, he realizes there’s some sort of chakra-laced barrier above the layer of cement. There’s something beyond this, and he wants to find out.

He tears through the barrier with a Susanoo arm, practically clawing his way out. He keeps on moving, keeps on working, until he finally gets a glimpse of natural light that the fires in the dark hallway can’t provide. It doesn’t take long for him to emerge out.

Where he finds himself is— unexpected. He didn’t know how far the underground halls traveled, but it apparently reaches to a cliff side, where below lies a beach with a beautiful view of the horizon and calm waves. There’s no one in sight.

At the edge of the cliff is cross, and tied to it is a patch of black cloth. When the wind blows, Sasuke realizes that that the Uchiha symbol is engraved in it. It looks like one of his clothes, and he thinks that it’s due to Karin that it’s there. He used to find her strange for her attachment to physical things belonging to people she cared for, because sentimentality was something he discarded long ago, but now, he can’t help but be grateful.

It’s not a bad place to be buried, all things considered. Sasuke even likes it. It’s in a spot well hidden enough for people to not easily come across it. When he stands right in front of the cross, feet infused with chakra to try and feel any difference in the ground, he knows his body is buried there. The patch of area he stands on is messily placed back together, not natural and untouched.

His gaze travels to the beach.

Sand slips inside his sandals as he walks,  but Sasuke doesn’t feel it, only notices. A part of him wishes he could. The last time he was in a beach, it was to spar with Suigetsu, and he’d been more preoccupied with breaking through any water jutsu thrown at him than enjoying where they were at. Suigetsu certainly had no problem with that, and even wanted to stay there for a while after training, while Sasuke returned to their camp to eat.

He reaches the shore and climbs on one of the rocks, looking at the horizon. The sun is setting, familiar despite the different location, and it reminds Sasuke of the times when he and Itachi would sit out in front of their house’s tiny garden and admire the sky. Itachi would lay out all his weapons beside him while he read ninja scrolls, all while easily stopping  Sasuke from touching any of his sharp tools at the same time.

Sasuke never asked Madara about anything related to Itachi after he found out the truth, but he thinks his brother’s buried beside him, because despite the bad blood, they are truly siblings even at the very end.

It hits him, that Itachi is really dead. And it doesn’t matter that Sasuke is too, because he’s here, and Itachi isn’t. Everything Sasuke’s done, he’s done for it because of Itachi, and everything Itachi’s done, it was for Sasuke; even in death, the fact still remains, and it makes Sasuke miss that brother of his who never truly changed all the more.

His mother once told him that all Uchiha funerals were held at sunset, because the sky would turn into a magnificent mix of red, yellow, and orange, and it was the most beautiful image of fire the world could ever make, the kind that the Uchiha would practice every day to try and recreate, even though it was never possible. Sasuke always thought that they practiced their fire jutsus to make them more powerful, not beautiful.

Sasuke spits out a small ball of fire into the sky. It’s not a strong flame, nor is it beautiful, but it evaporates mid-air and creates a small firework. It’s a little trick, changing the form of fire that he learned how to do for Itachi’s birthday, except he never got to show it to him because the massacre happened shortly after.

Not having practiced the useless technique means it’s not as good as it would’ve looked years ago, but he supposes that it’s a little pretty, and wonders if his mom would be proud, if Itachi would’ve liked it.

Sasuke closes his eyes and lets himself grieve. Thinks,  _I'll see you soon, nii-san._

❁❁❁

What makes Konan good isn’t the uniqueness of her jutsu, but how she utilizes it, and Sasuke never realized how dangerous paper explosives could ever be until he had to fight her. In the end though, Sasuke wins because as a reanimated corpse, any injuries he sustains never hinders him, and there’s nothing Amaterasu can’t burn through.

Madara ordered her death without need for a response, but before she exhausts her chakra in its entirety and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, she gives Sasuke a message, “Tell Madara this,” and despite dying, her eyes are full of life. “You cannot kill us. As long as Naruto and his dream still lives, Nagato, Yahiko, and I will still stand against you.”

A blood-soaked paper floats away into the sky, and instead of the usual Ame rain is a rainbow. Sasuke stares at the sky and thinks of the oddity and the irony of it all, that the moment their leader dies, the clouded sky lets sunlight slip through. Sasuke never thought that beauty in death was a thing, but then he sees the way Konan dies with a smile on her face under a colorful bridge, body sinking into the water, and realizes that it can be possible.

Any information Madara accumulated regarding Pein — Nagato, it’s a long story, apparently, one that Sasuke didn’t want to bother with — in relation to Naruto was just that he was defeated by the blonde, and how he did it. Sasuke learns about how much Naruto has evolved, developing a kinjutsu, learning senjutsu, letting the Kyuubi go free before taming it down at the last minute. It’s useful information, but it’s lacking, just in that last section that should really answer _how_ Naruto resolved it all, when Konan came out alive despite being there to guard the real Nagato and how everyone who had died during the attack had come back to life. Judging from Konan’s words though, Sasuke has a feeling that it could’ve been something Naruto said, because he’s Naruto. That bumbling idiot always had a way with words.

Madara had told him that if his fight with Konan allowed him to learn anything particularly new about the Pein situation, he should add it to the archives. Despite his orders, Sasuke decides against it. This little thing, he wants to keep to himself.

Nagato’s body is buried deep in the basement of the main headquarters of the Ame leaders, laid out on a table and surrounded by countless paper flowers. Beside his body is another one of an orange-haired boy, and it reminds Sasuke of Juugo. Like the Sharingan, the Rinnegan still exists even after death, and the eyeballs he plucks out of the dead man’s sockets and puts into capsules are purple. Sasuke’s never seen the Rinnegan in action, but he’s aware of what it can do, and understands why Madara wants it. Pushing aside the claim he makes that it was once his, it has numerous abilities that can make the Sharingan and all its capabilities pale in comparison. It makes Sasuke almost hesitant to take it, wondering if he can get away with claiming that the body was found, but the eyes were not.

But Madara is too smart to fool that easily, and Sasuke knows that.

He summons Ren, one of his snakes with black and white scales and a missing eye. He’s one of the smaller snakes, despite being one of the older ones, due to Orochimaru experimenting on him with Hashirama’s cells, causing him to shrink in size despite his new regenerative abilities. Ren tilts his head as Sasuke presents him one of the Rinnegan eyes.

“This is not a gift.” Ren points out.

Sasuke shakes his head. “I’ll need it when the time is right.”

“What will you do with the other one?”

“Give it to Madara.” He only wants one of the eyes, after all. Something about how he still isn’t strong enough to use the both of them yet. 

Ren stares at the Rinnegan eye in Sasuke’s hand. “I presume you have a plan?”

He does. By the time he’s finished explaining it, Ren has a new eye and an order to uphold. Sasuke slips the other eye into a container, seals Nagato’s body in a scroll, and leaves Amegakure just when the rain comes back.

(He looks at the empty eye sockets of Nagato and allows himself a moment to wonder where his and Itachi’s eyes are now, because Sharingan eyes don’t lose their worth even after death, regardless of the fact that their owners do.)

❁❁❁

The Kage Summit is held in the Land of Iron, a country full of snow. The last time he was in a place as cold as this was for a mission, back when he was part of Team 7, set in the Land of Snow to protect an actress Naruto had a big crush on.

The Summit is about to start in an hour, but Sasuke’s still making his way there. Being early or on time isn’t the goal anyway; Danzo is. He initially planned on getting to the man on his way to the Land of Iron, but got held back because Madara said it was better if he made his presence and killing intent known in the Kage Summit itself so that they would all know how the Akatsuki was still a threat, and how they’re still capable of declaring war and having the numbers to make it possible.

“While I don’t doubt that you could take around one or two Kage down, you only want Danzo, and all I want is to send a message.” Madara tells him. “Really, just cause as much trouble as you can.”

As long as Sasuke gets Danzo, he doesn’t really care about whatever errands Madara makes him do on the way. They’re difficult, every task Madara gives, but it’s not like any of it can kill Sasuke, and it serves as good practice for all the new techniques that comes along with his visual prowess.

Despite never having been to the Land of Iron, he knows enough about it from his time with Orochimaru to know that it’s a place he would’ve liked. Orochimaru brought in a samurai from here to teach Sasuke the kenjutsu style he knows now, but he knows there’s an abundance of other styles and techniques with the sword that he could’ve learned if he came here instead to train instead. Once, in a dream he had when he still lived in the underground bases of Oto, his mother had bandaged the cuts on his arm from practicing and told him how he’d make a great samurai, if not shinobi.

He travels through the land’s forest even though he knows that there aren’t enough citizens in the Land of Iron to be concerned with, besides the fact that all the strong shinobi from each of the known villages are arriving. He’s been jumping from tree to tree without rest or stop, and ends up thinking about how much everyone in Hebi would’ve hated the pace he’s traveling at. In his mind, he can imagine Suigetsu’s complaints from his right about how his water-like body would become ice, and Karin’s demands to shut up from his left even though she’d be shivering and would want to bask in a small fire for a while. Juugo would trail behind them, silent with no complaints, but inside wanting them to slow down a little just to appreciate the new kind of nature they’ve surrounded themselves with. Sasuke thinks about how he’d put up a front about them needing to continue moving, but eventually relent because he wants to enjoy the moment too.

He shrouds himself in trees but ends up edging closer to the side, where there are open fields coated in snow and people trekking their way through it. Sasuke doesn’t think much of it until his limited sensory abilities nag him to pay attention.

Sasuke stops, moving to the tree that’s closest to the field so he can get a better glimpse of who are there. The figures — there are a lot — have stopped walking, halted in their travel by the presence of three other shinobi. Jumping to another tree and squinting, he recognizes the largest one there to be the Raikage with his poorly concealed chakra — expectedly intense, crackling like hidden lightning.

And then, two other noticeable ones: chakra like stormy wind and the richness of earth.

Sasuke only recognizes these two’s chakra because he’s spent so much time remembering it on the days he let himself miss what once was.

“Raikage-sama,” Naruto says, and his voice is as loud and obnoxious as it always was, echoing in the vast and mostly empty snowy land they stand on. It’s almost disrespectful, how Naruto calls so much attention to himself when someone more deserving of it — and someone whose pride cares for it — stands in front. No one says a thing, however, though the other Kumo shinobi tense up. Naruto’s on his knees, head bowed down in front of the Raikage’s feet like— “Please spare Sasuke.”

Sasuke freezes.

“I refuse.” Raikage says. It’s not a surprising answer. “Why should I pardon a man’s crimes just because his friend asks me to?”

Naruto doesn’t get up them, head almost pressed to the Raikage’s feet, to the snow, like a prayer. Like he’s begging.

“Naruto—” The wood user begins.

“Everything Sasuke does, he does for revenge.” Naruto says clearly. “Your order to kill him for what he did to your brother is also for revenge.” The Raikage gazes down at him. “I’m young, but I know that the world is full of hate. And as long as people act out of vengeance, that hate will just continue growing. That’s what happened to Sasuke, and I don’t—” he chokes. “I don’t want anyone else to become like him. I can’t lose anyone else to that kind of darkness. A part of Sasuke is still good, I know it, so _please_. Give him a chance.”

There’s an eerie silence that creeps up in the air around them. Then the Raikage side steps Naruto and marches forward, saying, “We are going to dispose of Sasuke.” as if Naruto hadn’t even been there, hadn’t said a single word.

Kakashi and the wood user are quiet. “We’ve let you had your say, but we need to go if we want to make it in time for the meeting.” says one of the Kumo nins, and that cues the rest of them to follow the Raikage. The Konoha nin watch them as they go, with Naruto still on his knees, pleading to nothing. Sasuke is far away, but his enhanced perception can make up the sight of tears flowing down Naruto’s face, still pressed against the snow.

Then the Raikage stops walking. “Raise your head, Konoha jinchuuriki.” he thunders. “A shinobi is a warrior, not a beggar. He does not bow his head as easily as he performs a jutsu.” He turns to Naruto. “The Akatsuki are a band of S-class missing nin, wanted fugitives in all nations, and Uchiha Sasuke has associated himself with them the moment he stepped in my village and took our jinchuuriki. Every inch of the world wants him dead. Think hard about what that means and what you should do about that, because this life tolerates no fool.”

Naruto still hasn’t moved, even when the Raikage and his ensemble are already gone. Kakashi and the wood user stand before him, silent and watching the blonde fall apart.

In the distance, Sasuke’s gripping onto the trunk of the tree so hard that a piece of the bark comes off. He has the strongest impulse to do something — make his presence known by charging into a fray, running after the Raikage with a Chidori-laced blade, rush to Naruto and punch him hard, scream at him that he’s stupid for humiliating himself like that, for putting down his own pride as a shinobi for a dead man who wants nothing like salvation, who couldn’t be saved, even if he was still alive.

The stupidest, _stupidest_ urge that he has though— to haul Naruto up and crumble in his arms, because the last time he’s had someone care about him this much was when Itachi tapped him in the forehead with blood trickling down his mouth saying he was sorry, and Sasuke had been too blinded by shock to understand what that gesture meant until it was already too late. Kakashi and the other jonin are irrelevant. In Naruto’s arms, he thinks Konoha can fade into a distant memory and the family he’s always proclaimed on rebuilding can be remade in the most unconventional but profound way.

He realizes how easy it would be, to throw it all away, because in this hollow body he still aches and feels. Naruto occupies his thoughts more often in the short time span of him as an Edo Tensei than it did for the past three years under Orochimaru and the hunt for Itachi. Sasuke used to think it was because he had more time, but maybe it was something else. Sasuke isn’t sure.

His train of thought is cut short when he hears a sudden rustle coming from the trees, just as Kakashi helps Naruto stand up. Though their features should be blurry from the distance he’s at, Sasuke’s Sharingan is honed enough to let him see that Naruto’s wiping the snot out from his nose. He has the sudden, unexplainable urge to shove tissue up his face because he looks like a pathetic mess, but he discards the thought the moment Zetsu emerges from the tree behind him. “Sasuke-kun,” he purrs. “Danzo is already there at the tower.”

Sasuke shouldn’t be surprised that Madara’s already stationed a spy of his there, even though he wants Sasuke to do most of the grunt work. “Let’s go.” he says. Zetsu immediately sinks back into the tree, likely about to return to where he came from now that his job’s done. Sasuke has work to do, a goal to accomplish. Everything that had entered his mind— those were simply distractions, fantasies that he never let himself indulge in back when he was still alive that he paid attention to now, because it didn’t matter.

 _It doesn’t matter._ He thinks, sparing one last glance at the three who are still under the snow. If Naruto could just look up, he’d see Sasuke at plain view. The Kyuubi’s enhanced vision would easily allow that. It seems so possible that he almost wishes it would happen. But it doesn’t, and Sasuke can’t waste anymore time waiting for the opportunity.

He departs and purposely tries not to think about Naruto.  


	3. Chapter 3

“Sasuke,” Madara says. “What is the ideal world to you?”

Sasuke stops sharpening his kunai. He looks up at Madara, who is seated at the ribcage of the skeleton. His head is tilted upwards, but with the orange mask covering his face, Sasuke doesn’t really know if he’s really looking at anything. 

“What does it matter to you?” Sasuke asks. 

“Of course it matters to me.” Madara says simply. Sasuke doesn’t know how he can say that so easily when he hadn’t been as caring for the rest of their clan and their fate. “I’m curious as to what your world would be like when the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan succeeds.”

It’s not a shared world, he had told him the first time. Each and every one of them will live in their own reality. Sasuke shrugs. “I’m dead. When all this is over, I’ll be gone. There is no ideal world— or _any_ world that awaits me.” He stands up. “Don’t bother asking me stupid questions. I could care less about your plan. You know why I’m really here.”

Madara doesn’t say anything as Sasuke leaves. “What a pleasant boy,” he says, when Sasuke’s out of sight, but Sasuke hears him anyway. The amusement in his voice at the younger’s attitude is clear. 

Sasuke claims it’s irrelevant. In the evening though, when he’s left with nothing to do but drown in his thoughts, his mind wanders towards Madara’s words, and starts crafting the life he’s always wanted without pause. When Sasuke closes his eyes, he can see it perfectly. His clan alive, not hated by Konoha. His parents, proud of him; his brother, teaching him different sorts of techniques when he isn’t on missions. Kakashi would fill in the blanks in training Itachi can’t do. Sakura would stop waiting for the world to help her stand up and learn to do it herself; Naruto wouldn’t have a beast sealed in him and his parents would still be alive. There is no Danzo, no Homura, no Kotaru. Not a single person that helped ruin his life present in the world he’s always wanted. No one to take what he loves away from him. 

In his ideal world, he becomes chuunin on his second try, jonin on his first, and takes over as the leader of Konoha’s Military Police Force while Itachi becomes the new Clan Head. In that world, Naruto receives the mantle of Hokage and Sasuke has his back. They trade friendly and playful fists in daylight and trade something else— something special in the dark. Neither of them know what loss and loneliness are. In that world, Itachi has a three-year old daughter clinging onto his back, while a familiar brunette stands happily by his side, carrying a boy who looks exactly like his sister. Itachi smiles a lot more there. He has never known a life of war, and even if he has, he has learned to move on from it. 

Sasuke opens his eyes and knows that, for the first time in a long, long time, he has allowed himself to dream. A part of him understands why Madara is determined to make this plan come through. It’s beautiful. 

But it’s not for Sasuke. The real world has desensitized him enough for him to know that, and it’s already too late for him. 

Two nights before he’s set to head for the Land of Iron, Madara approaches him with a book in his hand. The cover is plain, save for the Uchiha fan designed at the center. 

“Before you go,” Madara says.  “Let me give you some information on Danzo’s circumstance. It might help you in your fight with that wily bastard. It’s best if you aren’t surprised with what he can do.” Sasuke gives him a suspicious look. “It has something to do with the Sharingan.”

The ideal world is something Sasuke will never get to experience, but at least he can make a part of it a reality. 

❁❁❁

The genjutsu concealing Sasuke’s true appearance works on everyone except Sharingan users. That means the only person who can actually sabotage the plan to maintain Sasuke’s status as alive is Kakashi. 

(Danzo as well, technically, but he’s already been dealt with. Sasuke trusts Madara to handle the remains. He never wants to see any semblance of that bastard ever again. He knows Madara would agree. Danzo Shimura is likely the vilest thing to ever exist, especially to the Uchiha.) 

“You’re not Sasuke.” is the first thing Kakashi says. It sounds like it’s about to be a speech about how much Sasuke’s changed, how he’s grown colder and much more merciless, judging by the bloody mess left from his fight with Danzo and the way he coldly spoke to Sakura. The ultimatum of killing the rest of Team 7 to prove her loyalty to him was only done because he knew she wouldn’t do it. Sasuke doesn’t want others to get involved with what he’s doing, especially them. But he knows Sakura would insist until he gave her a demand she couldn’t fulfill. 

But it doesn’t lead there. “You’re an Edo Tensei.”

The genjutsu doesn’t disperse right then and there just because someone sees past it. It’s not an illusion one can remove just by trying to release it with a hand sign. It’s wrapped around him like armor, shielding the world from the truth, impossible to remove by anyone except Madara. Sasuke doesn’t say anything, but when Kakashi throws a kunai aimed right at his shoulder, he doesn’t dodge, lets it pierce through skin and muscle that aren’t actually there, and wrenches it out without reaction, tossing it into the water they stand on. The area where he was hit just repatches itself, and he doesn’t know what it looks like to Sakura, but it still confirms Kakashi’s declaration. Sakura’s face pales; Sasuke almost thinks Kakashi’s mismatched eyes glisten with its own shock and grief. 

“But there was no body.” Sakura protests, horrified. “You can’t be dead.”

“Madara likely took it with him in the aftermath of the fight.” Kakashi says gravely. “You died there, didn’t you?” 

“Go away.” Sasuke says, because he wants to get rid of the expressions on their faces. He doesn’t know what to do with them, doesn’t want to have to acknowledge them. “This doesn’t concern you.” 

“Danzo was a Konoha shinobi and citizen, and he was Konoha’s temporary Rokudaime.” He states, voice turned to steel. “So it does concern us.” 

Sasuke blinks. “Would you still come to his defense even if you knew he ordered for the death of Konoha’s most powerful clan?” 

“Even then,” Kakashi replies, though Sasuke sensed the brief hint of surprise on his old teacher’s face. Shocked because he didn’t know, or shocked because he didn’t know Sasuke knew, Sasuke can’t tell. “There is no such thing as an innocent shinobi. We have all done horrible, inhumane things in our lives. It’s part of the job.” 

Sasuke wonders how he can sound so heartless, standing in front of his once-favorite, now-dead student. Then again, he’s not Naruto or Sakura. The moment Sasuke left for Orochimaru, he probably lost Kakashi’s faith in him completely. “You’re a S-class missing nin, Sasuke, and as Konoha shinobi, as your old team, you need to be stopped.” 

S-class nins always get a “flee on sight” warning. He probably would’ve gotten some hidden satisfaction from that fact, knowing he’s reached that point to be acknowledged as strong and not to be messed with, but he’s dead, so he just feels hollow. It’s just a piece of information now, the fact that he’s dangerous. It’s useless. It changes nothing except people’s ability to take him seriously. 

Sasuke sighs. “If this is your way of stopping me, then it’s not going to work.” He slides his foot an inch back. “And you’re full of openings, Sakura.” He adds, acknowledging the kunai threateningly aimed at his back, and even if he doesn’t look, he can sense how Sakura trembles to attempt the killing blow. Not that it would work anyway. He turns around and holds Sakura up by the throat, the kunai she was holding uselessly falling from her grip and into his free hand. There’s a seal tag attached to it, so at least she was being a bit smart about it. The position they’re in is the perfect one for him to stab her in the stomach, or tighten his grip to the point of suffocating her, but a part of him knows he doesn’t want to do either, and all he’s wishing is that she’d disappear from his sight because her presence is starting to make everything hard. 

For someone who has supposedly thrown away sentimentality, he’s awfully bad at letting go. 

Distantly, he can hear Kakashi running towards them as Sakura struggles in his hold. She’s trying to say something, and Sasuke thinks it’s a plea. 

But then she manages to whimper a “ _Naruto_ ”, and his hold automatically loosens just as a shuriken with explosive tags connected to it hits him. Sakura is snatched from his grip and amidst the explosion and the water that bursts from under, he catches a flash of familiar blonde hair. 

❁❁❁ 

Just because he can regenerate doesn’t mean he lets Naruto’s attacks hit. He can risk it with others, because it helps that he doesn’t feel anything, but when it comes to Naruto, Sasuke’s pride just refuses to admit that Naruto can actually stand a chance against him. 

They trade blows and block them, and neither of them hold back. Taijutsu can only be effective for so long though, and Sasuke is almost tempted to be the first to change the tide, activate his Chidori. But then the move reminds him of his fight with Bee, and consequently, seeing Naruto begging in the snow to the Raikage for forgiveness on Sasuke’s behalf for “kidnapping” his younger brother. 

Sasuke can’t do it. He ends up throwing a punch hard enough to send Naruto a few meters back. Naruto clutches his stomach in pain, but otherwise looks fine, giving Sasuke a harsh glare as Sakura and Kakashi land beside him. His replacement and the wood style user aren’t here with them.

It’s a Team 7 reunion. Three years later. 

Sasuke doesn’t know if it’s reasonable that the thought makes him feel uncomfortable. 

“Some guy named Tobi told me about Itachi and the Uchiha massacre,” his voice is a deep rumble, a complete change from how it was all those years ago, and he’s heard it before, it’s not exactly new, but it catches Sasuke off every time, makes him think about how much Naruto’s grown. 

Sasuke immediately tenses at the mention of Itachi. “Shut up, dead last. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Of course it does.” Naruto snaps. “Is what he said true?”

He shouldn’t waste his time confirming things; he needs to go. The longer he stays, the more Madara will have to wait, and at some point, the man will notice Sasuke’s prolonged absence and check on him. If he sees Naruto, he might make Sasuke already engage him. Sasuke doesn’t have an excuse to need time to recuperate, and while Kakashi and Sakura being there means it won’t be that easy to get to Naruto, Sasuke knows he’s physically capable of taking the entire team on. Emotionally though, he isn’t sure. 

It’s different this time. He didn’t care as much back when he first saw them in Orochimaru’s hideout, but now—

Something’s shifted inside him, and he doesn’t know if it has anything to do with the dead brother he had slain and then regretted it, how one of his brother’s enemies — he can regret every choice he’s made except defeating that man, Sasuke thinks — is already dead, or the fact that his team is so full of life in a way that Sasuke wasn’t, even before. 

More than anything, he hates how seeing them all alive and okay and hurting makes him realize he almost craves living.

“Why do you care?”

“Because you’re my friend.” Naruto says, believing every word he states. “Because I still want to save you.”

Sasuke’s desperately tempted to laugh at his face and tell him, _you can’t save a dead man_. It’s clear he hasn’t figured it out, but from the look on Kakashi and Sakura’s face, he knows they aren’t going to tell him. Sasuke can’t figure out why, besides some misguided sense of protectiveness they feel over Naruto and his sanity should he learn the truth, but whatever. Sasuke doesn’t feel the need to ruin it. The hope in Naruto’s eyes as he says those words are enough to make him keep quiet, because despite everything, despite his supposed disregard and indifference towards these people he once thought he could call family, he can’t bring himself to destroy Naruto completely with his greatest fear: his inability to bring his best friend back. It’s not even out of Sasuke’s own stubbornness anymore, but the inevitability of the very things that took away Naruto’s and Sasuke’s families from them. 

Sasuke understands that Naruto has gone through loss. Madara had told him that Pein killed Jiraiya, and he knew that the Sannin was the closest thing to a father figure that Naruto ever got. Still, that doesn’t make Naruto any more ready for more of it. Sasuke has gone through it so many times, and it took dying himself to be able to move past it, because he knows when this is all over, he can see them again. Naruto can’t suffer through another loss. 

Not yet, anyway. 

(Suigetsu always did say Sasuke was too soft. He never took those words to heart until now.)

“There’s nothing to save me from.” Sasuke says. “You’re just wasting your time.”

“Sasuke’s right.” Kakashi says. “Naruto, you still have you dream of becoming Hokage. You’re the village hero. You don’t need to concern yourself with criminals who don’t even want to be saved. Sasuke is no longer the teammate you once knew.”

Sasuke can acknowledge that. Naruto doesn’t look convinced though. “I’m not giving up.”

Sasuke shakes his head. “You can never be Hokage, Naruto.” he says, knowing that at least that comment would get a rise out of it. It does, predictably, because Naruto tenses, fists clenching and sharp gaze turned into an angry glare. “You’re too soft. You don’t have the heart to destroy one precious person in exchange for millions.”

“I will be the Hokage that doesn’t need to make that decision.” Naruto stubbornly replies, fist pressed against his chest in a promise. Sasuke scoffs. “I will be Hokage, and I will not let any of my friends die. If I can't even do that— if I can't even save a single friend, then I don't deserve that title.” 

It’s the determination in Naruto’s eyes that say it all. If Sasuke was alive, the words would have held much more meaning. 

(The fact that they do _now_ , when he’s already dead, when it won’t even make a difference is just—)

“You’re hopeless.” And if tone comes out just a bit fond, then who will judge? He takes a step back, about to turn and leave because he doesn’t want to fight Naruto — he doesn’t, and in his head, he can now openly admit it — but then he stops and says, “There’s a war coming up.” simply because he can. “If you don’t get stronger, you’ll lose.” 

“Why are you telling us this?” Sakura demands. 

“I’m telling you what’s already been declared.” Sasuke answers. “The Akatsuki will soon come after Naruto to fulfill the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan of Madara. When it works,” _when_ , not _if_ , even though Sasuke is so unsure of the future because he doesn’t think he’ll be there long enough to see it. “We will live in the truth.”

It was something Madara told him, when he was explaining the plan to Sasuke, convincing him to join even though he didn’t even have to, because Sasuke was a reanimated corpse that could easily be manipulated and, true to his form, only had one priority. “ _We will live in the truth,”_ he had said. “ _And never have to suffer the consequences of lies.”_

Shinobi are spies, and the currency of spies are lies. Sasuke doesn’t know how that sort of reality can ever exist, and he doesn’t know if it’s something worth living in. No one likes suffering, but it’s what makes one stronger and grow from their immaturity and ignorance. If everyone lives in an eternal bliss, then everything will be static, and there will be no such thing as change. Sasuke hates suffering as much as anyone else would— maybe even hates it more than anyone, because he’s gone through it firsthand too many times, but he understands that amidst the loss, he had also gained something worth keeping. And maybe he lost that too, but that— that was on him. That was his choice. The world had given him something, and he was the one who let it go. 

The problem is that he doesn’t want Madara’s plan to succeed, but he doesn’t want to side with the same Konoha that slaughtered his family and brought his brother to ruin. He doesn’t want to protect a village had no remorse for the grief he had felt and went through only for them to expect some kind of sympathy in return. 

“And what’s your truth?” Naruto asks. 

Sasuke doesn’t know. All he knows is that he doesn’t want to live in another lie, whether it be in Madara’s illusionary utopia or Konoha’s false peace. “Itachi’s.” He says, because his whole life has been shaped according to the way Itachi intended it to.

Of course, they don’t let him get away that easily. Kakashi immediately creates a Chidori and goes running towards him, but Naruto stops him with a shadow clone before forming his Rasengan, and goes charging at Sasuke instead. Activating his Chidori is instinctual, an unconscious reaction to seeing that jutsu that’s so distinctly Naruto, but at the last second, he deactivates it, and shoots fireballs instead, one directed towards Team 7 and the other to the water. The mist that forms from the heat is all the cover he needs to disappear, and even if they could see past it, he knows they won’t follow him. 

The thought makes him ache, somewhat. 

❁❁❁

Sasuke loved a boy once. 

It was something he was able to come to terms with only after he’d been revived, only when it was too late. There are lots of things about himself that he’s able to accept now that he’s dead. Ironic, how he actually bothers to look at certain parts of his life that he’d always pushed aside in order to accomplish his goal when he was no longer living. 

He knows Itachi loved a girl too. He’d never met her, though Itachi said she met him as a baby, and only heard of her in passing, and whatever bond or love they had hadn’t been enough to stop him from killing her. 

The first time Sasuke acknowledged that he felt _something_ for Naruto that couldn’t be platonic was when he woke up from his Tsukuyomi-induced coma and realized that it was because of Naruto’s efforts to find Tsunade to heal him. Despite how he hated thinking of his brother, he told himself that if Itachi was heartless enough to kill his girlfriend regardless of what he felt for her, then Sasuke should at least be able to do the same to a stupid crush he felt on someone he knew he shouldn’t even be looking at in that way. It wasn’t important that he liked Naruto. It didn’t matter, in the grander scheme of things. 

(Hypocritical, considering that he told himself he wouldn’t kill Naruto back in the Valley of the End just because it’s what Itachi had done to Shisui to acquire the Mangekyou, but at the time, it was the only thing he could convince himself to believe and follow through with.)

Naruto remains in his mind for the two weeks since his encounter with Team 7, and it’s not necessarily a new thing, except he can’t shove it at the back of his head like he normally does. 

It doesn’t help that he can’t sleep to take his mind off of it. They’re preparing for the war, so he doesn’t see any of the Akatsuki members in the graveyard hideout that unofficially belongs to him entirely, since he’s the one always there. He stops training, because he doesn’t need it, and spends most of his days pouring over research to develop strategies on how to take certain people out — Kabuto, Zetsu, Kisame, Madara, the Kages — and digging a little deeper on Madara himself, because something about him seems too off. Sasuke doesn’t doubt that the masked man could probably rival Pein in terms of trouble caused, if not in power, but being Madara himself is something Sasuke can’t completely reconcile with. 

His motivation to do any sort of intelligence gathering wears off every time the moon emerges. It always shines awfully bright in this hideout, as compared to other places, and he’s figured out why even until now. Sasuke would resent the light if he could sleep, but since he can’t, he sits on one of the bones and grabs a stick. The ground beneath his feet is sand, though shallow. It’s more than enough for him to start drawing, moving the stick across to push the sand so that it can form the image he wants. 

He can’t do details with such a low quality canvas, but even with only planning on making out the basic features of the face, Itachi’s is hard to draw. He tries drawing his parents, but he can barely remember what they look like, so nothing comes out. He draws Sakura’s next, which is a lot easier, and then Kakashi’s, and everyone in Hebi. He makes sure to make them all small, so he doesn’t have to stand up to find a blank place to draw another face or remove one of the existing ones. 

Naruto’s comes last, but it’s the easiest. The spiky hair, the large eyes, the whiskers, the hitai-ate. Unlike his parents, Sasuke remembers everything. He doesn’t know if it has anything to do with time. 

Still, he ends up drawing Naruto’s face alone for the rest of the nights that follow. Each time the sun rises hours later, the drawings are always gone. 

❁❁❁

The genjutsu hiding his appearance fades without fanfare. Madara hasn’t said a thing, but Sasuke knows it’s happened because when he summons one of his snakes to ask for something, she comments how he’s a lot less stiff but still as straightforward as ever now that he’s dead. He understands why Madara does it now; with Kabuto’s army of the undead, there’s no more need to hide that Sasuke shares the same fate as them. The revelation might even startle enough shinobi for them to take advantage of it, though Sasuke likes to think that people are smarter than to let something like that shake them. 

And then she advises him to return to the cliffside he had found through the secret passageways of the Uchiha hideout. When he gets to his grave, there are white flowers neatly lying in front of the cross. Three familiar figures are all staring at his grave in silence. Only Juugo is kneeling. 

“You knew.” Sasuke quietly says. 

Suigetsu snorts, though he doesn’t turn to him. “Not bothering with any greetings? You’re the same as always.”

“Did you forget, Sasuke? I’m attuned to your chakra. The moment I felt it dispel, I knew.” Karin answers him, voice surprisingly even and matter-of-fact. She doesn’t turn and throw herself with joy at him, thankfully, like he thought she would. The air around her is different, much more serious. It might be the gravity of the situation, but he realizes he likes it regardless. “Just as I knew you’d be coming here now.” 

“Is that why you’re here now?” Sasuke asks. 

Juugo shakes his head, the first to turn to him. “We stopped by the hideout to look for clues before coming here to pay our respects.” He says. “A coincidence that you’re here as well.”

“Maybe not.” Sasuke considers, gaze briefly trained on Karin. “Clues for what?” 

“The real Madara.” Karin says. “The one that isn’t the masked man.”

Sasuke figured. The bits of information he collected about him didn’t add up, and even though the rest of the Akatsuki seem fooled, he isn’t.  

“His chakra is foul, but not old.” Karin continues. “Orochimaru reanimated Senju Hashirama when he fought your Sandaime, and his chakra was as ancient as the forest. That masked man’s— Tobi, his is newer.” 

“What else did you find?” 

“Did you know Kabuto became some fucked up version of Orochimaru? Well, that happened, and we unintentionally ran into him the other day. Caught him with that Tobi guy, and then Karin hide our chakra so we could spy on them.” Suigetsu explains. “Then he used that Edo Tensei technique that brought you back, and out came the one and only Uchiha Madara. They’re still keeping the identity thing a secret, but now we know.” 

“Whether or not Tobi was using Madara’s name to make people take his Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan seriously, it’s happening nonetheless.” Karin inputs. “They only need the Konoha jinchuuriki left before they can revive the Juubi.”

“They didn’t get the Hachibi.” Sasuke says. “Not entirely, anyway. I only brought back a tenth of its actual chakra. That stalls their progress.”

Juugo raises an eyebrow. “Why would you do that?” 

Sasuke doesn’t want to say it’s because he thought of Naruto. Looking back on it now, it’s not his only reason. 

He remembers his conversation with Tobi. “ _He also shared the same dream as us. He was a pacifist; he wanted peace. He wanted to change the world for the better._ ” he had told him, “ _We will live in the truth, and never have to suffer the consequences of lies.”_ But Sasuke’s seen the world both alive and dead, and knows that this isn’t the way. 

You don’t solve the harsh truth of life by shrouding it in a beautiful lie. You don’t treasure the memory of those who have suffered and those who fell by forgetting their struggle. 

“So, boss,” Suigetsu pipes up, recognizing the look in Sasuke’s eyes. “What’s the plan now?” 

Sasuke closes his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious?” He says. “We’re going against Tobi.” 

(“ _And what’s your truth?_ ” Naruto asked him.

This is.) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if it's not what u were expecting lmao


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh kakashi's attitude was my flimsy attempt at mirroring his animosity for sasuke during the canonical team 7 reunion in the land of snow (should not have done that, clearly) but hopefully this chapter here will somehow fix your current image of him?

Hebi — now Taka — don’t mobilize the moment the war begins. Sasuke wants to wait, let his team gather as much information as they can and develop efficient strategies first; it helps that Tobi wants Sasuke to only enter the field when he’s already gotten a hold of the Kyuubi. He doesn’t want the younger to be the one to get Naruto, for whatever reason. Sasuke doesn’t question it. 

Tobi doesn’t seem to suspect Sasuke’s betrayal, and Sasuke’s content with that until he makes his move. 

It’s still a day before their planned move out when Karin senses Kakashi’s chakra coming a mile away. They’ve abandoned the graveyard hideout by then, returning to where they met, the Uchiha one, because it’s closer to the battlefield and where Tobi wants him. Sasuke tells the rest of them to stay inside one of the few rooms that hadn’t been decimated by the battle and leaves. 

Per Kakashi fashion, he stands in front of the large slab of stone with the Uchiha crest with his hands in his pocket and a blank expression on his face. When Sasuke makes his last step a few meters behind him purposely loud to catch his attention, he doesn’t react. Kakashi looks like he’s visiting the monument he often visits in the training ground to mourn the unnamed shinobi who died during the last war back in Konoha. Sasuke caught him once doing it on a rainy morning, about to return home because of the weather after he finished training until dusk. 

When they come to a standstill of silence, Sasuke breaks it immediately by speaking up. “Uchiha Madara isn’t who he says he is.” 

“I figured.” Kakashi replies. “His Mangekyou Sharingan has the same unique technique as mine— Kamui. Teleporting other things into another dimension.” 

That’s new information. Sasuke tilts his head. Tobi can make himself untouchable because he shifts parts of his body to the other dimension so it can’t be damaged. Kakashi’s woks oppositely, transferring other things that his eye focuses on.  Sasuke highly doubts it’s a coincidence either that Tobi’s mask only shows his right eye instead of both. “How did you get your Sharingan?” 

“A teammate who had died during the 3rd Shinobi War gave it to me, after saving my life.” Kakashi answers. “His name was Uchiha Obito. He probably would’ve been Hokage by now.” 

Uchiha Obito. Kakashi’s teammate. Sasuke knows he never met him, but he knows he was someone important to his family. He’d hear his name in passing on the anniversary of the war, coming from his mother’s lips, and there was a picture of a boy with orange goggles that she kept beside the front door, along with all their other family pictures. Mikoto used to tell him fond stories of Obito whenever Sasuke would ask for a bedtime story and she ran out of fairytales. He had the privilege of being the Yondaime’s student. He was loud and selfless, a failure by Uchiha standards because he couldn’t awaken the Sharingan at the age most did, but a hero for his sacrifice in the war. Mikoto never mentioned that his eye went to a non-member. Never mentioned anything beyond the fact that he died crushed by a boulder and that he was loved by many, but most of all, by the team he left behind. 

The Mangekyou has a plethora of abilities, but those like Kakashi’s Kamui only come once in a blue moon. Sasuke can’t access the alternate dimension, and he knows Itachi couldn’t either. 

The possibility that the man who claims to be Madara is actually Kakashi’s supposedly dead teammate isn’t as unlikely as they’d like to think. 

”That boulder might not have killed him.” Sasuke says lowly. 

Kakashi sighs, sounding tired already. “I’m afraid you’re right.” He says. “It seems like the dead just can’t stay dead.” 

“Unfortunately.” Sasuke agrees, the both of them knowing there’s more than one meaning to it. Then, “Is that why you’re here? To find answers?”

“I came here to mourn.” Kakashi admits. “And remember too, I suppose. What I said back in the Land of Snow— I forgot what it meant to be a person more than a shinobi. It was Obito who told me that I should never abandon the people important to me, but that was one of the first things I did after not seeing you in years, because I thought you changed so much that it scared me. You became something I thought I didn’t know, and that’s maybe the biggest slap to the face that I was a terrible teacher.”

He doesn’t expect Kakashi’s confession, so he doesn’t know what are the right things to say. All he knows is that Kakashi couldn’t have been a terrible teacher, if he somehow managed to raise Sakura and Naruto up so well. Really, it was just that Sasuke was a bad student, the most emotionally driven and scarred to the point where it probably scared his own teacher, making him lost as to what to do with him. “It’s too late for me.” Sasuke eventually replies. 

The movement is small, but Sasuke notices Kakashi’s shoulders slump regardless. “I know.” He says. “I’m sorry about your family. I didn’t— I didn’t know, until you said, and I checked some Anbu records that confirmed it, but that doesn’t change anything. And I’m sorry. Sorry I failed you. Every time.” 

Sasuke was never hurt by Kakashi’s words, though he once used to care so much of them. “What I did when I was still alive was on me.” He tells him. “But if you want to make it up to me, then don’t— don’t fail them. Protect them. Naruto. Sakura. They deserve better.”

“Never thought the one person who hurt them the most would be the one giving me a lecture on taking care of them.” Kakashi notes, but there’s no venom in his voice. Sasuke doesn’t feel irritated or offended at the statement regardless of how true it is. It might be an effect of being dead— not clinging to negative emotions like before. Or maybe it’s just him. Maybe he’s just too tired to have the energy to feel badly about everything. Kakashi turns to him, finally, and his sole gray eye crinkles as he smiles. “How you’ve grown, Sasuke.” 

He hasn’t seen that expression directed at him in forever that it’s undoubtedly startling to see. “Whatever.” He says, because he doesn’t know what to do with the undeniable pride he hears in Kakashi’s voice, laced with regret because his teacher wasn’t there to see it develop, wasn’t the one who encouraged it or caused it. Kakashi’s eye is alight with understanding, knowing what Sasuke really means behind that one word. “Does Naruto know?” He doesn’t need to say what he’s referring to. 

“He’ll know eventually.” replies Kakashi, which is an answer enough. “Maybe you should tell him. When you see him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Sasuke says. Naruto’s a key player in the war, and Sasuke will only distract him. “I’m joining the fray soon.” he tells the older, shifting topics. “Is there anything about the enemy that you need to know?” 

Kakashi can take the hint from Sasuke’s words about which side he’s now on, knows that whatever Sasuke will tell him when he asks will be truthful. 

Sasuke expects Kakashi to ask about the abilities of the countless White Zetsus, of the remaining Akatsuki still alive, how to defeat the heavy hitters Kabuto is summoning from the dead, about Obito and how he’s doing, because Kakashi may be an outstanding shinobi, but he was also once someone’s teammate and childhood friend. 

Kakashi doesn’t ask any of that though. What he asks instead is, “Where are you buried?” 

Sasuke blinks in surprise, clearly not expecting the question. Kakashi merely looks at him expectedly. Then Sasuke shakes his head, not knowing why he expected anything else. He half-turns his body away from him. “There’s a beach nearby here.” He says. “Above it is a cliffside. At the edge is a cross with a patch of the clothing with the Uchiha fan on it. That’s where the last of the Clan lies.” 

Obito may still be alive, but he’s dragged their name through the dirt too many times for it to still be his. He’s an Uchiha only in calling and ability, but not in heart. Despite Obito’s unexplained fondness for Sasuke, the latter holds no attachment to him. Obito wasn’t bad towards him, but Sasuke isn’t kind enough to see past all the atrocities he committed— releasing the Kyuubi, causing Konoha to blame the Uchiha clan, assisting Itachi in their massacre, and countless others. He hates the fact that it’s Obito who had buried him, because he isn’t family, not to Sasuke. At least it had been Taka to honor him with the symbol of his clan. 

But it’s Kakashi who will find his grave and bring his bones back to the Uchiha district so that Sasuke can lay alongside his kin. Kakashi is more of an Uchiha than Obito is, than he ever will be, so it’s only right that he does this. He has to be the one to do it, the only other Sharingan user still alive and worth recognizing. Kakashi understands everything Sasuke hasn’t said. 

“When the war is over,” Kakashi says. “Naruto, Sakura, and I will give you a proper burial.” 

_ Because they would want to see it too. Because Sakura needs her peace. Because Naruto will have to know, will have to accept it.  _

_ Because we’re your family _ . 

Sasuke also understands everything Kakashi hasn’t said. 

“When the war is over,” echoes Sasuke, like a promise, tasting the word on his tongue.

(It tastes like closure.) 

❁❁❁

The sun is starting to rise when Sasuke’s body becomes a puppet that will act on whatever Kabuto orders. He expects it, so it doesn’t startle him that much. He’s alone, waiting by the edge of a lake, and watching the water lets him focus, allows his mind to calm itself down. It wouldn’t do him any good to panic, a sign of weakness he can’t show and indulge in. Taka left a few hours ago, their plan officially in action, and they should be in one of the medical wings of the Allied Shinobi Forces, guarding the camp. It doesn’t take long before another presence joins him. 

“You must be Uchiha Sasuke.” Nagato says, red-haired and healthier than he was when Sasuke saw his corpse. He sounds young, around the same age as Sasuke. If he’s shocked to see Sasuke in his current, deceased state, he doesn’t show it. “Uchiha Itachi’s little brother.”

The comment would’ve made him bristle, but now it’s just another title that doesn’t mean much anymore, not when the most important label for him is  _ dead _ . “Nagato, Akatsuki’s leader.” Sasuke says in reply. The sun has fully risen. “How much do you know about what’s going on?”

He updates Nagato on what happened so far as they begin traveling, their feet carrying them to a destination neither of them know about. Nagato is not what Sasuke’s been expecting, soft-spoken and resigned in a way that tells Sasuke that Nagato must’ve lived a hard life. He doesn’t lash out at Sasuke when he asks about Konan and Sasuke says he killed her per Tobi’s orders, but it’s clear that he cares, and the relief in his voice is evident when Sasuke tells him that Konan won’t be one of the reanimated walking among them, because her body is buried in the bottom of the ocean, like Jiraiya’s. 

“She’s more tired of war than I am.” Nagato says in explanation. “She deserves her peace, and so does Yahiko. This is a cruel jutsu, forbidding the dead to rest and forcing the living to suffer through the grief of having to lose their loved ones once more.” 

“Tobi and Kabuto aren’t exactly known for their kindness.” Sasuke replies, but he agrees with Nagato’s sentiment. “I don’t think it’ll be long before we reach the battlefield.”

Nagato doesn’t look like the talkative type, but he surprises Sasuke by filling the silence with questions about what he’d been doing up to this point, since Sasuke had been revived way before Nagato was. Despite his youthful appearance, he talks like the adult he is, treating Sasuke like the child he never got to be with advice and light berating. It makes Sasuke almost forget that they don’t have control of their bodies and that they’re in the middle of war; he could almost believe that they’re just two shinobi, sensei to student, bound together by a cursed dojutsu and loss and hatred at the world, now transformed into quiet resignation translated differently due to their circumstances. 

In another life, he thinks, that could’ve been his world. 

“I wonder,” Nagato begins. “If we’ll encounter Naruto on our journey there.”

“Who knows,” Sasuke replies, letting his guard down for the first time to allow wistfulness to escape his tongue. “I’d hope not.”

Nagato hums in agreement. “As much as I’d like to see him, I know that it’s for the best that we don’t. I doubt he would take it well, seeing an enemy-turned-friend he had defeated, as well as his old teammate, as reanimated corpses.”

Sasuke shouldn’t be surprised Nagato knows. He shrugs. “Not like the secret will stay long.”

Before Nagato can reply to that, the presence of strong chakra has them snapping their heads towards its direction. Up ahead, it seems, and it’s headed their way, though Sasuke doesn’t know if it’s intentional or not. The person makes no move to hide their chakra, but then again, it might just be because Sasuke and Nagato aren’t either. 

It’s likely an intimidation tactic, but Sasuke’s encountered too many S-class nin to be taken back at this point. 

But as they move forward, the chakra they’re after starts to feel off. Nagato narrows his eyes, likely coming to that assumption as well. It feels eerily familiar, and there’s a lingering thought in Sasuke’s mind to  _ remember it _ , because how could he forget—

Then it hits him. It’s Itachi’s. 

They leave the trees and reappear in the clear area beside the forest, already anticipating the fight. 

Meters away from Sasuke is Itachi, whose face mirrors the same shock he feels. There are suddenly so many things Sasuke wants to say. He wants to express relief, demand confirmation for everything Tobi and Danzo had said, and wonder what Itachi feels now, seeing his little brother who is no longer naive, but Itachi beats him to it, says in a horrified voice, 

“You’re dead.”

Granted, it’s only logical that Sasuke’s response to that is one fueled with incredulity, “And you’re alive.”

It isn’t just that; Itachi looks healthy. The mesh armor he once wore as an Akatsuki member is replaced with the full-on Anbu attire Sasuke grew up seeing. The nail polish and ring is gone, and so is his scratched out hitai-ate. He’s no longer skin and bones, on the verge of death because of his crippling illness. He moves with the same grace he always did, but the small signs are telling— there’s no beat of hesitation or precaution he’d need to take when he’d do something because he was handicapped. His eyes are no longer the growing gray they were because of his coming blindness, but the trademark onyx the Uchiha were known for. He looks more like his age than he ever did before. 

Because this was really the one outcome he never anticipated, Sasuke doesn’t know what to say. Then again, Tobi never actually confirmed he was dead. Sasuke just assumed. Itachi opens his mouth, likely to reply to Sasuke’s exclamation, but then Sasuke feels something inside him just snap without warning, and his feet move on its own accord, rushing towards Itachi as his hands start doing hand seals. 

“Dodge!” Sasuke manages to get out before blowing a fireball at him. Itachi evades it, but then Nagato stretches out his hand and pulls Itachi’s body towards him. Itachi counters it with a fireball of his own targeted at Nagato, making the redhead let him go, but then Sasuke returns, throwing shuriken, and it’s reminiscent of their battle to the death back at the Uchiha hideout. 

“He’s going to make me use my summons.” Nagato warns the both of them, retreating a few meters back so he can perform the jutsu. In the meantime, Sasuke forgoes the shuriken to directly attack Itachi head-on. 

“How are you alive?” Sasuke asks as they fight. They’re equal in terms of taijutsu, neither one of them giving in or taking the lead, and the movements are automatic, done without thinking. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m not supposed to be.” Itachi answers, voice laced with regret, but his guard hasn’t waned in the slightest. “Your retrieval team had found my body in the aftermath of the battle, almost dead. You weren’t there anymore. We assumed Madara had taken you away ahead of time to recuperate, and the Konoha nin had gotten me before he came back.”

Sasuke’s retrieval team. Team 7 and Team 8. Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto. They knew Itachi was alive. Why hadn’t they said?

“I was not supposed to make it.” Itachi continues, understanding Sasuke’s confusion. Sasuke’s Susano’o activates in that moment, a skeletal arm appearing to reach out to him, but Itachi swats it away with his own, summoning it just as easily. “Only a few knew of my return, and anything about my status was confidential until something significant would happen. I only woke up a week before Konoha was going to dispatch their shinobi for the war, thanks to Tsunade-dono. But  _ you  _ were. You were not supposed to die. I did not intend for this to happen.” 

Sasuke doesn’t have time to properly digest the words or reply. “Itachi!” Nagato yells from behind them, and Sasuke moves away as an enormous bird comes swooping in to try and attack his brother. The bird gets through Itachi, but he just evaporates in a murder of crows. He reappears in front of the three-headed dog, but Sasuke does a Shunsin and attacks him from behind with a Chidori-laced blade. Itachi reactivates his Susano’o skeleton body to shield himself, forcing Sasuke to jump back.

Nagato jumps on the middle head of the mutt, frowning at the two of them. “I suggest you save your talking for when you are not in battle. Itachi will be distracted, having to fight two dojutsu opponents at once.” he says. “Or at least find a way with your Sharingan to free us from the user’s control.”

“This is annoying,” Sasuke mutters to himself, because Nagato’s right, but Sasuke still needs to talk to Itachi. Kabuto’s order to continue fighting triggers Sasuke’s combat instincts, but since Kabuto’s not directly controlling his movements, Sasuke can suppress it, hoping that he can accomplish this quickly before the snake notices. 

He does a few hand seals, and Ren appears in a cloud of smoke. 

“It seems the time has come then.” Ren says knowingly. 

“Rinnegan.” Nagato says, eyes wide, staring at the snake. Itachi looks equally bewildered. “So that’s how you plan on breaking free.”

The one Nagato currently has isn’t as powerful as the Rinnegan he had when he was alive, because it’s a dojutsu that can’t exactly be carried over as a reanimation. At best, it can be replicated, but Nagato’s capabilities are limited, and he also can’t use the abilities that center around the manipulation of life or death. It’s information Sasuke stumbled across when he retrieved Nagato’s eyes and body in Amegakure. Since Sasuke has the real eye, he can break himself free from Kabuto’s control. It happened to be one of the few things he remembered when he’d studied how Edo Tensei worked under Orochimaru’s tutelage. If a shinobi is strong enough, they can resist control of the caster and release themselves. Sasuke was able to figure out early on that Tsukuyomi alone would be able to counter it, through casting a genjutsu on the user to manipulate them into releasing the Edo Tensei, but Sasuke’s never actually met Kabuto — or at least, in a conscious state — and he never did learn how to use the Mangekyou’s genjutsu. The Rinnegan eye and its properties can simply overpower the control with ease, so long as Sasuke expels enough chakra and directs it at the control talisman he knows is inside his body. 

Fortunately, the whole process only takes a few seconds. He can feel the control talisman evaporate inside his body, and Kabuto’s subtle hold on him disappear. Ren closes both his eyes, shuddering, the only indication that the action had affected him in any way. Sasuke strokes his head comfortingly, thanking him. Then Ren hisses, mismatched eyes opening and looking upward, and in a moment’s flash, Sasuke uses his Mangekyou to burn the bird summon of Nagato in the sky with black flames. 

The bird cries out, falling to the ground as it gets swallowed up in Amaterasu. Itachi watches Sasuke as he walks to him until they’re side by side, facing Nagato. 

Nagato smiles. “The reunion of estranged brothers.” he says rather proudly. Then his eyes darken, and his shoulders slacken. Kabuto clearly realized he lost control of Sasuke’s reanimation, which is why he removed Nagato’s consciousness.  

Though Nagato is a formidable opponent, and it doesn’t help that he can’t tell them the moves he’s going to use because he’s no longer there, Sasuke and Itachi are able to deal with him in ample time. For siblings who have never worked together, they make a skilled duo, being able to combine their Susano’o to land effective blows on Nagato’s summons, break off his black rods with Sasuke’s lightning-charged weapons, his repel and attract ability with Itachi’s powerful fire techniques, and a strong Amaterasu-fused sword that pierces through Nagato’s body, sealing him and preventing him from recovering. 

The Susano’o dies down as they watch Nagato’s reanimated corpse crumble. Sasuke wonders if he should say something,  _ think _ something, because for the few hours they were together, Sasuke had come to like the red-haired man. But he ends up keeping his silence, because Nagato is no longer there to hear whatever he may have to say. At least he’s finally gotten his peace alongside Konan and Yahiko. 

Both Itachi and Sasuke’s eyes are bleeding from the use of their Mangekyou, but Itachi doesn’t look debilitated from using it, like he normally does. In fact, when Sasuke actually gets a closer look at his brother’s eyes, he sees his own sun-like patterned Mangekyou embedded in Itachi’s shuriken-like one. 

“Your eyes.” Sasuke starts. “Are those—”

“They’re yours.” Itachi answers. He lifts his hand and lightly touches his eyelids. “The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan restored my sight permanently.” He lets out a sigh. “These were supposed to be yours. My eyes, I mean. This ability.”

“‘Supposed to be.’ You say that a lot.” Sasuke notes. “I guess it means your plans blew up in your face.”

“Spectacularly.” the older says, rather bitingly. Sasuke resists the urge to snort. Then, in a lighter tone, “You never really were good at following orders.”

“I could never be like you.” Sasuke admits. Itachi cracks a small smile. “So what Tobi and Danzo said were true then.” he continues, on a more serious note. “If you’re back in Konoha, if you didn’t really want to kill me.”

Itachi doesn’t answer for a few seconds. Sasuke tries not to stare at the hitai-ate on the older’s forehead that says  _ shinobi _ , rather than the Konoha symbol. Eventually, he says, “I had planned on taking the truth to the grave. Instead, it followed me to the surface and refuses to die.” Itachi turns to look at Sasuke. “Sasuke,” he begins. “How much do you want to know?”

It’s not a question of  _ how much does he know _ . Itachi’s words imply that there’s more to it than what Tobi and Danzo had given away. 

And then Sasuke thinks,  _ of course that’s the case _ . Whatever knowledge Danzo and Tobi may possess, despite their heavy involvement, is nothing compared to the source itself. But all that Sasuke knows is painful enough to accept already. What more the rest of it?

But in the end, he’s not the one who has to carry all that pain within him. Sasuke lives on borrowed time, and it’ll run out soon, when it’s all over. If knowing what Itachi is willing to show him will mean that he can at least carry some of that burden weighing on his brother’s shoulders, then it’s more than worth it. It’s the least he can do.  

“Everything.” Sasuke says, and then it’s the sight of Itachi’s Sharingan that bleeds into his vision and transports him to another world. 

It’s similar to when he was at the graveyard hideout and discovered how he’d been revived, where he’s brought back to relive a memory. But these are Itachi’s memories, not his, he realizes quickly, as he finds himself standing at a cliff edge’s with a raging river down below, Itachi and Shisui’s backs turned to him, dressed in their Anbu uniforms.

The events flip by quickly, Shisui’s eyes and his suicide, the elders’ discussion on the coup, Danzo’s orders and thinly veiled threat towards Sasuke’s safety, Tobi’s involvement in the massacre, his parents accepting their fate and Itachi’s tears. Sasuke watches it all unfold like a spectator, detached from the scene but understanding the pain, the hardship, the grief that Itachi went through. 

The anger on behalf of Itachi, of his clan, for everything Konoha had did, still remains. It flares when he returns back to the real world, but Itachi’s eyes and expression are unchanging, and it’s his clear lack of resentment that burns out Sasuke’s own. Hate is a childish, unnecessary thing to feel. It’s what has pushed Sasuke forward to getting stronger, but pushed him back when it came to connecting with others and his own self. Sasuke has learned that. 

“Does Konoha know?” Sasuke asks.  

“They hail me a hero, the remainder of the elders dismissed of their positions for ordering a child prodigy to slay their own kin.” Itachi replies. It sounds like he’s telling a story, like this isn’t about him. “The Uchiha name has been tainted, however, and it doesn’t help that this whole war has been started by none other than a fellow clansmen.”

“Uchiha Obito, not Madara himself.” Sasuke supplements. “Though Kabuto is going to revive him for this war.”

“I’m here for him, actually.” Itachi says. “Kabuto.”

“You’re going to fight him?”

Itachi shakes his head. “Just track him and alert Hatake Kakashi of his location. They want me in the front lines right after. They need more Sharingan on the battlefield, but I said that Kabuto was an important piece that shouldn’t be discarded. One of our heavy hitters will be in charge of actually taking him down. I’m not supposed to engage him; they want me to save my strength.” 

“Do you know where he is?”

“No. But we know he has a Konoha kunoichi with him. Anko Mitarashi.” Sasuke vaguely remembers her. Chuunin exam instructor for the second part of the test. A previous student of Orochimaru. “Her chakra’s distinct, especially with her Curse Seal, so we’re trying to use that as a basis, but it’s foggy, at best.”

Even though Sasuke’s severed himself from Kabuto, the fact that Kabuto revived him means that there’s still sort of connection between the two. Though Kabuto no longer has any control of him, Sasuke can still trace his chakra.

The plan really did work perfectly— keeping his betrayal a secret, and using the Rinnegan to break free while still knowing Kabuto’s location. He only hopes that on Taka’s side, it’s going just as well. 

“I know.” Sasuke tells Itachi. “I can’t tell you the exact location until I get there, but it’ll be a lot faster than whatever strategy you’re using.” He nods to Ren, and then another snake appears, identical to him appearance-wise save for the eye and gender. “Take Ren with you to Kakashi or whoever he’s sending for Kabuto. I’ll have Rin with me, so the moment I get there, Ren will know too, and he’ll teleport them straight there. It’s a technique these twins can do, but they can only take one, so this shinobi must be good. Tell Kakashi I’m already going after Kabuto, but if he doesn’t trust me to handle the job or just wants to be safe, then he can do whatever.” He’d normally yap about it, but he understands that these are desperate times. There’s nothing wrong with certain victory, and there’s no time for arrogance. 

Ren blinks at Sasuke, and the Rinnegan eye catches Sasuke’s attention. He looks back to his brother. “How was Tsunade able to heal you?”

Itachi seems caught off guard with the abrupt question, but he replies regardless. “Hashirama’s cells.” he says. “One of Orochimaru’s hideouts was raided before the war, and they used a bit of it to recover Tsunade from Pein’s invasion. Once she managed to replicate it, she used it to regenerate my failing lungs.”

“And your illness.”

“It’s an Uchiha disease, resulted from our ancestors trying to only procreate with one another instead of branching out to other families. To make ‘purebloods’, if you can call us that.” Itachi explains. “Be grateful that, at least, you did not inherit it. It usually starts at fourteen.” 

“Orochimaru made sure I couldn’t accumulate any sort of illness.” Sasuke says, and though the methods weren’t exactly legal or comfortable, he did acknowledge its benefits, while he was still alive. “But if you have Hashirama’s cells, then that means you can have this. The Rinnegan.” 

“What?”

“I want you to have it.” Sasuke says. “Ren also has Hashirama’s cells, which is why he can use it now, but it holds more chakra than his body can allow, so he can’t do it for long. And you’ll need this eye. Tobi is using the other one, but I don’t think your side knows that yet. You’ll need it, to fight him.” 

Itachi still looks hesitant, but then reaches his arm out and lets Ren wrap himself around him. “I don’t want to leave you.” he says, after a moment. 

“Follows your orders, nii-san.” Sasuke says. “I’ll be fine.” 

Itachi rolls his eyes. “Every time you tell me that, you never end up  _ ‘fine’ _ .”

Sasuke shrugs. “I’ll be as fine as a dead body could ever be.”

Itachi’s expression sombers at Sasuke’s words. “I will never not regret being able to save you. I will never not regret failing you.” he says, voice painfully sad. “I’m sorry.” 

Only two people have told him that, but it feels like too many regardless. “You sound exactly like Kakashi.” Sasuke says, but his voice turns soft. “I don’t hate you for any of it.”

“You should.” says Itachi. “It’s the least I deserve.”

“You didn’t deserve any of the shit you went through, but you got it anyway.” Sasuke tells him. “What’s one more to the list?” He says it lightly, but Itachi’s guilty expression still doesn’t disappear. 

“Sasuke—” He starts, but he doesn’t get to finish, because Sasuke quickly walks over to him and envelops the older in a tight hug. He doesn’t remember the last time he did this. The only constant gesture of physical affection they ever showed was Itachi poking his forehead. 

But it feels good. Not familiar in the slightest, which he knows should be odd in normal circumstances, but they aren’t that. They’ve always been complicated, and even death can’t change that.  Despite the fact that there will be things Sasuke’s heart, dead or not, will always want, he would never be willing to sacrifice Itachi for any of it. 

“I forgive you.” Sasuke says, because he knows how much Itachi needs to hear it. 

Itachi grips onto him like a lifeline, like he wants to make the most out of the moment while he can. Sasuke can’t physically feel it, but he knows what the gesture means, the amount of love and affection Itachi’s felt for him that he could never show the way he wanted to. 

“I’m sorry.” says Sasuke. 

“What for?”

“For dying, and then leaving you to live on with all that suffering.” Especially when death had been Itachi’s one wish, after he had sacrificed everything for Konoha. “And I’m sorry for not even really being sorry, because I’m glad that you’re alive.” He swallows. The words are easy to say, easy to mean, but it’s hard to keep himself from choking up. “You deserve to be happy, nii-san, and I know you would find it more in life than in death.”

He remembers his ideal world. Itachi, Clan Head, with a family of his own. Izumi giving him twins, a boy and girl who were Uchiha through and through. Until now, it’s still a beautiful image to see. He knows that in its own way, a reality like that can truly exist for Itachi, now that he’s alive. 

Reluctantly, Itachi pulls back. “I doubt that.” he says. “Because you’re no longer here. But perhaps; I’d like to believe that it can be possible.”

In another world, Sasuke’s sure, the exact opposite of their situation would happen. Itachi would have perished in their battle, and Sasuke would have carried his eyes in remembrance. Maybe Sasuke would’ve had more hate in his heart, and maybe Itachi would’ve had less regrets and grief because he wasn’t alive to deal with it, but Sasuke thinks—  _ believes _ , that if they ran into each other once more, with the truth in their minds and acceptance for their own actions in their hearts, they would resolve their conflicts and gain closure the same way they did now; they would still love and care for one another the same way. 

Sasuke says, “I will love you always, nii-san.” like a promise, and though they feel like words someone else has told him, the memory is too distant for him to chase after. 

All he knows is that he means it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi itachi being alive was supposed to be this BIG reveal but then i realized i tagged "role reversal" so it kinda defeats the point :"")
> 
> sorry if this chapter was a bit lousy? esp in the response to how kakashi was handled. i'm currently juggling a shit ton of other fics, and since this one is almost done, it's sort of pushed aside in lieu of giving my other fics better quality than this (aka my way of improving my writing style and plot progression). this au is honestly just a self-indulgent creation of mine, but i'm v v happy there are people genuinely invested in it!! despite my vague discontent, i hope that people still enjoy(ed?) it, especially since there's only one chapter remaining before its officially done!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just saying but I stopped reading the manga shortly after the Team 7 reunion during the war, and all the bits of info I know about the events after that is due to watching enough AMVs ... hence the way this story is wrapped up. 
> 
> sorry it's taken almost the entire story for us to get to this point, but for you narusasu fans out there, this chapter is for you.

“Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito are attempting to summon the Juubi. Hatake Kakashi is currently fighting them alongside your brother.” Rin tells him, when they’re halfway there to Kabuto. 

Sasuke had been almost certain that it was Kakashi himself who would go and handle Kabuto with him, but he isn’t entirely surprised that he’s decided to remain in the front and deal with Obito. Though they’re at war, it doesn’t change the fact that Kakashi feels like he has some sort of personal obligation to fight Obito. 

“The Rinnegan?” Sasuke inquires.

“In Itachi’s right eye.” Rin replies. “Madara wants it. According to him, the Rinnegan eyes Nagato possessed used to be his. He’s likely to get Obito’s after Kakashi has been dealt with.”

“So they’re not really allies, the two of them.”

“They have a history, but yes.” Rin confirms. “They just happen to have the same goals.” 

Sasuke nods. The Allied Shinobi Force can take advantage of that. He has no doubt one of the Nara’s are already planning a strategy to exploit that obvious weakness. 

“I don’t understand,” Rin starts. “Why you must do this, and not join the front lines with your brother. You would be able to deal a lot of damage to Obito and Madara, or any of the other revived S-class nin, especially as a reanimation. You would not be deterred by injury or chakra depletion.” 

This is Sasuke’s first time experiencing war, but he knows that the last one wasn’t that long ago. Still, comparing it to the accounts of war veterans  that he used to read about in Orochimaru’s library depicting their experiences, this war isn’t as complicated as the previous ones. Despite the intimidating foes they face, if they take down at least one of the three — Kabuto, Obito, or Madara — then they basically win already. Kabuto is a behind-the-scenes worker though, and it’s Obito and Madara who are taking the spotlight and staying in the middle of the battlefield, which is why all the attention is hyper-focused on them. But Sasuke knows Kabuto is the key to winning. Madara is an Edo Tensei, and if Kabuto is defeated, then Madara will go, and so would all the other S-rank and kage-level undead shinobi he’s brought back. Obito will be the only one left standing, and while he’s formidable, he’s only human, and he can’t compete against the rest of the world. 

The plan is simple in theory. But the Allied Shinobi Force don’t know of Kabuto and his capabilities, and they can’t afford to send a lot of shinobi after him when their hands are tied in dealing with the White Zetsus and the Edo Tensei after them. Sasuke has to do this, because he’s the only one strong enough who can. He’s killed Orochimaru once, and while it was, at the time, the Sannin was ill, Sasuke’s stronger than before. He’s capable of doing it. 

He knows that someone will be sent though. They can’t afford to take any chances. At the very least, Sasuke thinks, they have to be as strong as Kakashi to keep up with him.  

“We’re near.” Sasuke says, when the trees start to clear and give him a glimpse of a cave. Typical. Rin slides down his body and onto the ground. “Alert Ren—”

Rin doesn’t reply. A cloud of smoke appears and she poofs out of existence; a second later, a figure emerges, lunging at Sasuke so blindingly fast he doesn’t even time to react, and he’s thrown back. It takes five trees for the impact of the attack to break, and Sasuke’s pressed against the trunk of a tree, with a hand tightly wrapped around his throat. Sasuke knows he would’ve broken his arm, gotten a concussion, and passed out from suffocation, if it wasn’t for the fact that he was dead. 

“You bastard,” someone growls, and Sasuke’s eyes snap open to stare at Naruto. His chakra feels exactly like the Kyuubi’s, full of rage and simmering heat, but his eyes are still its normal bright blue. It feels overwhelming. Sasuke would gasp for breath if he needed it. 

Sasuke meets Naruto’s gaze. Or tries to, since the way Naruto’s holding him forces him to hold his head up. “Quiet.” Sasuke hisses easily, voice unaffected with the death-grip Naruto has on his throat. His arm, a portion of his head, and throat are slowly patching itself back together, but his neck is stalled because Naruto’s hand is still there. He covers Naruto’s mouth with his hand. “You’re going to blow our cover.”

Naruto trembles, definitely in rage at being told what to do and at how Sasuke’s treating him, but the latter doesn’t care. As secretly glad he is to see Naruto, because he’d been sure that the time in the Land of Iron would be the last, there are things they need to prioritize, and it is not one another. “Kakashi sent you, right?”

Naruto tries to wrench Sasuke’s hand away from his mouth, and Sasuke gives him a warning glare. The blonde mumbles something like a promise to keep quiet, and Sasuke lets him go. Naruto gives him one last glare as he does the same before saying in a hushed tone, “I fucking hate you.”

He didn’t answer him, but Sasuke doesn’t know why he expected anything else. He rolls his eyes and pushes the other back, starting to walk. When he looks at the torn down trees he went through when Naruto punched him, he realizes that they no longer have the advantage of surprise, because Kabuto definitely knows they’re here by now. Sasuke grimaces. He forgot how fucking annoying Naruto was. 

“Congrats, dead last. You ruined the element of surprise.” Sasuke tells him sarcastically. “God, you’re the worst.”

Naruto catches up to him and scowls. “ _You’re_ the worst. You didn’t fucking tell me you were dead!”

“It’s none of your business.”

“None of my business, my ass.” Naruto mutters. “Of course it’s my business! I’m your best friend!” 

“Whatever.” Sasuke says, as they step inside the cave. 

It’s not the worst of reactions Sasuke was anticipating, though he could still do without the unnecessary anger, because it’s already ruined his strategy. An angry Naruto is better than a sad one though, because at least he recovers faster from it. Sasuke could deal with it; he knows how to. It probably helps that he acts more or less the same as he did when he was still alive. 

“There’s nothing here.” Naruto says aloud, as they wander deeper into the cave. Sasuke doesn’t say anything, just walks ahead of him. “Are you sure this is the place? You’re headed towards a dead-end.”

“I know what I’m doing.” is all Sasuke says. “Why are you here anyway? Shouldn’t you be in the frontlines with Kakashi?” It’s Naruto’s style, after all. Somehow, every battle he’s had involved him being in the center of attention. It’s not intentional, just something distinctly Naruto. 

Naruto crosses his arms. “Kakashi wanted me here.” He says. “‘Sides, they started the war because they wanted _me_. Kakashi said it’d be stupid if we put their goal right in their midst, even if I’m not easy to just grab and go.”

It’s sound reasoning, Sasuke thinks, but it’s not like the place they’re headed to is any safer either. Then again, Naruto would definitely put up a fuss if he wouldn’t be allowed to fight at all, and it isn’t like Kabuto is too much for him to handle. 

Sasuke stops walking when he sees something shaped like a body lying on the side. “Shit.”

It’s a purple-haired woman. From the pale look on Naruto’s face, Sasuke guesses that it’s Anko. “She’s dead.” he states, noting the pool of blood around her. Naruto crouches down, checking her pulse, but Sasuke already knows he’s right. He instead looks around. “It means Kabuto’s here.” 

“Or he was.” Naruto says, sighing before standing back up. He points. “We’re already at the dead-end.”

Sasuke steps forward and touches the wall. It’s only believable appearance-wise, but the presence of another person on the other side are clearly evident. It’s a pathetic barrier, Sasuke thinks, as he uses his Chidori to break through it. The wall crumbles down shortly after, and Sasuke steps forward as the dust clears. 

“Sasuke-kun,” Kabuto’s voice echoes in the cave. “I’ll admit, I didn’t expect you to come and find me that quickly.”

“Every Edo Tensei you control can pinpoint where you chakra is.” Sasuke says. “It’s one of the flaws of this jutsu.” 

“Does this officially mean you’ve turned tails and sided with Konoha? And to think Tobi hadn’t listened to me when I said that giving you all that freedom was dangerous.” Kabuto muses, seated on the ground and focused on something like a chessboard in front of him. It’s how he tracks what the corpses are doing, Sasuke’s guessing. Kabuto looks to him. “I must warn you though. The Edo Tensei won’t stop even if you kill me, but I am the only one who can end it. So if you kill me, you’ll never be able to stop the jutsu. Isn’t that troublesome for you, Sasuke-kun?”

Kabuto laughs, thoroughly amused with himself, as Naruto emerges by Sasuke’s side. Immediately, Kabuto stops and looks at him, not expecting his presence. “The Kyuubi’s jinchuuriki, huh.” He licks his lips, and his tongue is exactly like a snake’s. “How unexpected. I pegged you more as a frontline fighter.”

“ _That’s_ Kabuto?” Naruto asks Sasuke, completely ignoring the snake. “I didn’t think it was possible, but he looks worse than before.”

Sasuke can’t help but snort. “It’s the snake skin. Ruins your complexion.”

“Ah, is that why you looked like absolute shit when we first met after three years?”

“Says the guy who looked exactly like that after he lost in the fight.”

“Hey, hey. I never lost that. We never got to finish it, ya know.” Naruto says. “But we can talk about it later. What’s the plan with this freak?”

Kabuto’s eyes narrow, clearly offended by the insult. “Take him down, but without killing him. We need him to release the Edo Tensei.” replies Sasuke. “If he gets under my genjutsu, I could use it to make him tell me how to end it.”

“Sounds simple.”

“You underestimate me.” Kabuto says, standing up, and white snakes slip out of his coat and surround him. “Let’s see if your plan will go as smoothly as you say it will.” 

Sasuke triggers Susano’o just in time to cut through the snakes that charge at him while Naruto spits out something big and thick from his mouth, landing perfectly on the reptiles. Almost like being burned by acid, they start to disintegrate and melt away. His eyelids are orange, and he has toad-like pupils instead of his usual blue ones. 

“Since when could you do that?” Sasuke asks. 

Naruto grins. “You weren’t the only one getting stronger, ya know. I learned a thing or two in Mount Myoboku.”   

Kabuto starts another fit of cackles. “Impressive,” Kabuto remarks. “You even know how to use senjutsu. As expected of the 4th Hokage’s son and Jiraiya-san’s student.” Naruto’s eyes narrow, but otherwise, doesn’t react. Sasuke isn’t used to seeing this kind of seriousness and level-headedness in Naruto in battle, but then again, he hasn’t fought alongside him in a  long time. Sasuke shoots an arrow with Susano’o at Kabuto, supposedly pinning the man to one of the rocks, but Kabuto mouth opens and he emerges out of it, white-skinned, scaly, and unharmed, exactly like how Orochimaru would, like a snake shedding its skin. “But I have mastered senjutsu far better than even the Sannin have.” 

It’s at that moment does Sasuke realize what makes Kabuto’s chakra different from Orochimaru’s, what makes it more powerful. It’s similar to the White Snake Sage’s. “Naruto!” Sasuke calls out, but Kabuto’s already activated his jutsu. The cave seems to twist, as if it’s being distorted, and the pointed rocks grow in size with a kind of speed that barely leaves them a chance to defend themselves. Sasuke’s just in time to shield Naruto by using Susano’o’s fist, all while the rocks pierce through his body in different directions. Naruto shouts his name, alarmed and worried, but Sasuke isn’t hurt, just temporarily incapacitated as the parts of him that had been pierced try to reassemble themselves. 

“How noble of you, to use your Susano’o to protect Naruto-kun instead of yourself.” Kabuto comments. “But don’t worry. I wouldn’t hurt him. The Juubi won’t be at its full power without the Kyuubi’s chakra.” He takes a step forward towards Sasuke’s direction and fishes out a control talisman. “In the meantime—”

Kabuto doesn’t have time to finish his statement, because from above is a clone of Naruto’s, a Rasengan in his hand and directing it towards Kabuto. It doesn’t hit him, because Kabuto’s snakes emerge out of nowhere and wrap itself around the clone’s body and bite, causing it to burst in a cloud of smoke before its attack could reach. At least the distraction is enough for the cave to revert back to its normal self, the rocks sliding away from Sasuke’s body and letting him properly recuperate. 

“Shit, are you okay?” Naruto asks, as Sasuke kneels on the ground, waiting for his leg to full fix itself. His Susano’o surrounding Naruto fades. 

“Yeah,” he says. He’s fine, but Kabuto’s a bigger problem than he thought. He didn’t anticipate that his boost in power involved training with the White Snake Sage and actually being able to do senjutsu. Not even Orochimaru was able to master it. Sasuke has never been to Ryuchi Cave, having left before Orochimaru could take him there to go after Itachi. And though Naruto may know senjutsu as well, learning it from toads is a lot different from snakes, and he doesn’t know how advanced Naruto is in the first place. “We need a strategy. He keeps on bringing us to our defensive.”

“And we have to do it without killing him. Ah, this is hard.” Naruto says, scratching the back of his neck. “Hey, don’t you know any sort of genjutsu that can defeat this guy?”

“Moron, it won’t work. Look, his eyes are closed.” Sasuke points out. “He’s relying on all his other senses to fight us. No genjutsu would work without eye contact.”

But his fight with Danzo comes to mind, using Izanagi as each of the Sharingan eyes in his arm would close. Then comes Tobi’s voice, explaining the technique and its origin before he went to fight the elder so Sasuke would have an advantage, and he remembers. 

“But there is one we can use.” 

“Which is?”

“Izanami.” Sasuke replies. “Though I’ll need time to activate it. You’ll need to buy me time.”

“Thanks for the play-by-play of your plan.” Kabuto deadpans. “But it won’t work. You can barely keep up with me now. What more him?” _Him?_ Kabuto makes a hand sign, and a head starts to emerge from his bare stomach. 

“Ew.” He hears Naruto say from his side. “What the fuck is that?” 

The figure is familiar, and Sasuke realizes with disgust that it’s Orochimaru’s snake head, the same one he fought when he tried killing him and thought he got rid of for good. 

“It’s Orochimaru.” Sasuke says with a grimace. 

“You have my thanks, Sasuke.” Kabuto tells him, a manic grin on his face as the head in his stomach takes proper form. “It’s thanks to you that I was able to extract blood from Orochimaru-sama’s corpse and inject it in myself. It’s thanks to you that I’m able to complete the work he was never able to finish. You are why he is still alive, inside of me, and I am every inch of him and _more_ . Like a snake, I shed the former skin of myself and all my weaknesses and evolve into _him_ , a dragon to be feared.”

“Weakness?” Sasuke echoes. “This right here is weakness, trying to become someone else because you can’t be bothered to make the real you strong enough.”

“Shut up! You know _nothing_.” Orochimaru’s snake head lunges out of Kabuto, his body made of tiny white snakes. Naruto and Sasuke both move away to dodge, but then the snake head opens its mouth and spits acid from two different directions, directed at their mid-air bodies. Sasuke doesn’t know how it’ll affect Naruto, so he summons an arm of Susano’o to tug Naruto away from its aim. When the liquid hits Sasuke, his torso starts melting.

In a flash, Kabuto appears in front of him, control talisman close to his body, but then he has to dodge and move back because Naruto’s lunging at him in a flash. Though Naruto misses, Kabuto keeps a safe distance away from them. It’s probably because Naruto accidentally hit one of the large rocks instead close to them, and the force of the impact is so strong the material crumbles into dust. 

“Jeez,” Naruto whines. “If you weren’t already a corpse, you’d have died twice by now.”

“It’s because I’m a corpse than I let myself get injured like that, stupid.” Sasuke retorts. “Not my fault I have to keep on saving your ass.”

“No one asked you to. Besides, I can take care of myself!” Naruto shoots back. “I won’t die that easily.”

“Hn,” Sasuke shifts his attention back to Kabuto. But Kabuto’s disappeared, and Sasuke’s eyes narrow, using his Sharingan to search for his chakra. “Naruto,” he starts.

“I know. He’s gone.” Naruto murmurs, posture tensing. 

Sasuke finds Kabuto’s chakra curled up behind one of the rocks up ahead, but it’s satisfaction worth only a second, because then he notices how there are more of it scattered around the area. Kabuto’s chakra is _everywhere_ , dispersed into snake-like figures, and taking down each one of them would be a waste of time. He looks around, trying to search for one that would stand out. 

“Sasuke, behind you!” Naruto says, and Sasuke turns just in time to block Kabuto’s chakra-infused hands with his sword. A snake emerges from Kabuto’s back, aiming its fangs at him, but Sasuke summons a snake of his own to counter it, and they land on the ground, trying to kill each other. Kabuto uses his other hand to try and hit Sasuke again, but he twists his body to avoid it and swings his sword once more. Kabuto’s tail flicks it away, and his blade pierces a faraway rock with a sharp ping. 

Sasuke blows a fireball at him to create distance between them, and Kabuto activates a water jutsu back at him. The elder’s jutsu is a large sweeping wave that easily overpowers his fire and spreads across the whole cave, and though Sasuke is able to find safety by landing on one of the high rocks, Naruto isn’t so lucky, being swept away by the current. 

He only has a second to try and look for where Naruto could have gone, because Kabuto’s after him again, and he decides in a split-second to activate Amaterasu, putting the flames around him to form a protective circle. Kabuto backs away, a look of interest on his face. 

“The Amaterasu is so hot that the water is evaporating.” he notes as the cave starts growing foggy, the water gradually clearing out. Then Kabuto slams his hands down in an earth jutsu, and Sasuke has to jump away as the rock beneath him splits in two, effectively getting him out of the circle of black flames. “I’ll admit, I’ve always been jealous of what the Uchiha could do. Maybe when this is over, I’ll absorb your abilities as well.” 

A portion of the fog dissipates, and Naruto’s charging at Kabuto with a wind-made shuriken in his hand, with the middle looking a lot like a smaller version of the Rasengan. There’s a loud whooshing sound it makes as Naruto throws it in Kabuto’s direction. 

Kabuto manages to avoid it, but a portion of his tail gets cut off in the process, and he swears loudly, obviously in pain. The end of it writhes on the ground, bloodied. Kabuto pants, his tail not regrowing, though the bleeding has stopped. Sasuke narrows his eyes. 

“Dammit.” Naruto curses to himself. “I almost had him.”

“Don’t get so cocky now.” Kabuto warns, and spits out spider silk. Large spider webs start forming in different places in the cave, attempting to trap them, but Naruto easily tears through them with his wind shuriken. Kabuto opens his mouth once more, but instead of more silk that comes out, it’s a flute, and Sasuke instantly recognizes it. He shoots a long-ranged Chidori from his hand, making it wide on purpose to increase the volume of the chirping sound to drown out any sound that might come out of it. He’s able the break the flute just in time before Kabuto can start playing a single note, and the instrument shatters in Kabuto’s grasp. 

Kabuto scowls and makes a hand sign, and suddenly sharp bones are popping out of the ground and making their way towards Sasuke. The latter cuts through them with another Chidori, and shoots a Susano’o arrow at him. Kabuto lets the attack hit him, but his body turns into liquid. It’s similar to how Suigetsu reacts to direct hits, and how Sasuke knows he hadn’t actually hit Kabuto. If he’ll resort to using those techniques to stay safe instead of dodging them, then lightning-based attacks should work. Or Naruto’s, it seems, because so far, it was his technique that dealt the most damage.  

“This won’t do.” Kabuto says, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “You’re using all your techniques on me, and it’s barely doing any damage. Meanwhile,” he grins. “I still have so many up my sleeve.”

“Sasuke!” Naruto yells from a distance, and Sasuke catches the sword Naruto throws at him. 

“Kabuto, all you’re doing is using the same old tricks of other people.” Sasuke says. “There’s no way you can win against us when you’ve lost your own self.”

“Big words for someone who barely keep up.” taunts Kabuto. Arms spring out of his body, and a bow and arrows escape his mouth. He shoots three arrows at Sasuke, but the latter blocks it with a sweep of his sword. Then one of the arrows he deflects transforms into Kabuto himself and he jumps at him, because the Kabuto that had shot the arrows was a clone. Sasuke blocks his attack and tries bringing his sword down at him, but Kabuto uses his elongated snake tongue to flick it away. 

“What’s that, the second time already? My, my, Sasuke-kun. You aren’t so good with your sword. Perhaps Orochimaru-sama made a mistake in teaching you kenjutsu, after all.”

Sasuke releases a Chidori from his entire body to prevent Kabuto’s white snakes from reaching him and pinning him down. Kabuto has barely landed on ground when Sasuke’s shooting another fireball at him, which he counters with another water jutsu that easily kills the fire. 

Kabuto raises an eyebrow. “Oh? You’ve finally ran out of tricks, so you’re resorting to the exact same ones? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m disappointed.” 

“Hn,” Sasuke hums, oddly not fazed. “At least I know my own weaknesses.”

Kabuto narrows his eyes. “What are you trying to imply,”

Sasuke doesn’t answer, only smirks, and summons a large shuriken from the seals on his wrists, throwing it at Kabuto. Kabuto dodges it by jumping to the ceiling, but the shuriken that flies past him turns into Naruto, and in his hands, the wind shuriken. Kabuto avoids that too, but winces when he realizes he got injured in the process, feeling a pain coming from his tail. Then his expression turns confused, before it turns into something akin to dread. 

Sasuke closes his eyes, knowing it’s about time he got out. 

He finds himself standing in front of a still Kabuto, hand resting on the snake’s head. Naruto is standing beside him, looking both confused and awed. Immediately, Sasuke’s left eye loses its sight, the pupil turning white. It’s a strange sensation, not being able to see in both eyes, but it won’t matter soon, and at least it got the job done.

“Since when did you learn how to do that?” Naruto demands. 

“It’s not exactly a jutsu you can practice.” Sasuke says. “Tobi told me about it, and he gave me a book with details about it.”

Because he’s Naruto, he doesn’t fully understand what Izanami entails, so Sasuke explains to him the process and the requirements needed to activate it, which was why he wanted Naruto help him buy him time to set it up. His sword being flung away, Naruto cutting off a part of his tail, and the breaking of Tayuya’s flute were the points he used for the jutsu. The blonde frowns when Sasuke finishes telling him of Izanami’s origin and how to break out of it, the one major flaw that had it labeled a kinjutsu. 

“So you’re trying to help him.” Naruto says. “Why?”

“Why do always try to help me?” Sasuke asks back. He already knows Naruto’s answer to that, so he continues before the other can interject. “Because he isn’t evil.” he explains. “No one really is. The reason some people do bad things is because the world has done bad to them. It doesn’t justify all the stuff they’ve done, because some people still do good despite always being wronged.” Like Itachi, Sasuke thinks. And Naruto himself, even. He should understand. “But they shouldn’t be blamed for their own circumstances. They deserve a chance. A second, third, whatever.” He pauses. “Maybe I found redemption after my death, but it doesn’t have to be the same for him. He doesn’t have to die for him to be able to redeem himself.  He just has to remember who he is, because that person was a good man.”

He was. Sasuke lived with him for two years. Orochimaru was sickening in most ways, but it was bearable, and despite Kabuto’s iciness and blatant loyalty to the Sannin, Sasuke could tolerate everything he went through because of the few people like him who were there. Kabuto downplayed it a lot, but Sasuke can still remember the herbs secretly placed in his food, meant to help him recover faster after gruelling sessions with Orochimaru; the library he stumbled into that he sometimes slept in when his bed was too cold because Kabuto had “accidentally” directed him to the wrong hallway. He still remembers Kabuto’s occasional advice that was both meant to mock and degrade him but had underlines of concern. Kabuto was someone who tried not to care, but did it anyway, whether he knew it or not. 

Sasuke remembers that man. There was nothing wrong with him, nothing cowardly or weak, even if Kabuto may think that. He wants Kabuto to remember that man too. 

Naruto doesn’t say anything in reply, but Sasuke can tell, even without looking, that the blonde is surprised by his words, by the sincerity and certainty in them. Sasuke thinks he can relate to that shock, each and every time he thinks of Naruto’s absolute faith in him. 

Under the genjutsu, Kabuto easily shows Sasuke the signs needed to release the jutsu, and Sasuke orders him to perform it. They’re quiet, the only sound filling the cave is Kabuto saying the signs aloud as he does them. Sasuke thinks it won’t be for a while before Kabuto even realizes he has to accept himself in order to break free. 

At least he can’t say he didn’t try. Sasuke tells himself. He’s never been particularly _good_ in doing good, after all, but maybe, just _maybe_ , he’s done something worth being proud for. 

The moment Kabuto finishes making the last hand sign, a gust of wind blows past them. _It’s over,_ Sasuke thinks, sounding weary in his own mind, and as if on cue, his body starts glowing white. 

“You’re going then.” Naruto says, sounding distant and disbelieving, eyes wide. “You’re really going.” 

Sasuke looks at Naruto, and in his blue eyes is a kind of revelation that makes Sasuke realize that it hadn’t sunk in the blonde that Sasuke was really dead. No wonder Naruto reacted that way earlier. Only now, it’s hitting him, the reality of Sasuke’s fate.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “We’ve won the war. The world is saved. I’m no longer needed.”

“Bullshit.” Naruto snaps. “You can’t— you can’t go. So much has happened that you don’t know about. There’s still so much for you to _see_ . You have to be there for when Konoha is going to be rebuilt. For when Kakashi finally get married or Sakura gets to be head of the hospital or when your brother restores your clan. For when Granny will finally get sick of her job and hands the hat for Hokage to some sorry bastard that isn’t me because Shikamaru says I’m too emotional to take charge and need to stop thinking with my fists, that I’m not yet ready. You’re supposed to _be there_ , having our backs, _waiting_ for when that time will come. Sakura, Kakashi, and I, we—”

Like with his ideal world, Sasuke can see it. The way Sakura is accomplished and independent, the way Kakashi is content to still have people to love who are still alive, the way Naruto will get the acknowledgement and admiration he’s always craved, the way Itachi can find that world of peace. It’s not perfect, and it’s a little broken, but it’s warm and beautiful and makes Sasuke feel light, and that’s the closest thing he could’ve ever got to an ideal world, if he was alive. 

The hard truth is though, he isn’t. He’s dead, and even though he has a feeling that there might be a way to make him stay while all the other Edo Tensei go, the same way he was the only one able to break free from Kabuto’s control, he thinks of what lies beyond and knows he has to go. His time here is up. He doesn’t want to tamper with fate any longer. 

“I can’t stay.” Sasuke interrupts with a tone of finality, even though half of him is still screaming that he wants to, and he wants it so fucking _badly_. But these aren’t the right last words to leave him, and it’s unfair that only Itachi and Kakashi get their closure. Out of all of them, it’s Naruto who deserves it the most. Naruto, who never had anyone before, and when he did, it was already too late. Who never got to say goodbye to his parents or his mentor. Who has loved wholeheartedly and lost without hesitation. There’s still time, Sasuke thinks. This is the least he can do for Naruto, the least he owes after all that Naruto has sacrificed for his sake. If Naruto can throw his pride away without a second’s worth of hesitation for a criminal and beg for forgiveness for sins that aren’t even his own, then Sasuke can do the same just to be honest. 

“Naruto,” says Sasuke. “I think you’ll make a great Hokage someday.” His voice turns soft, bittersweet but ridiculously fond. “I’m just sorry that I won’t be there to see it.”

“You bastard,” Naruto hisses, but this voice is thick, his head bowed down to hide away the tears running down his face. “Didn’t I tell you before? How could I ever be Hokage if I can’t even save one friend?” He lets out a pained breath. This is not the same Naruto who stood a few meters away from him and told him that he’d save his friend in the Land of Iron. Then again, Sasuke muses to himself, that was a Naruto who was still spared of the truth. “I couldn’t even bring you home.”

Sasuke steps forward and grabs the back of Naruto’s head, blonde hair awfully soft under his touch, forcing him to look up. He rests his forehead against the younger’s, looks straight into his bright blue eyes, and wishes that he could feel Naruto’s warmth at least one last time. “You brought me back long ago, you know.” he tells him. “I’m already home.”

Naruto’s hands come up, and he clings onto Sasuke like he doesn’t want him to go, as if he doesn’t want to dispel the very jutsu they were trying to undo. 

“I love you, dead last.” Sasuke says, as the last bits of him start to float away in white. Because it’s the last time he’ll ever see him, ever get the chance to, he leans closer and presses a chaste kiss to the other’s lips, different from all the times before; shorter but much more meaningful. Naruto’s lips tremble when he pulls away. He doesn’t say it back, but Sasuke doesn’t need him to. What Naruto’s never shown through words, he does through actions. The past years are enough proof of that. 

Sasuke smiles, sad but proud, content with this ending, because it’s more than anything he’s ever deserved. “Goodbye.”

The sight of Naruto, hand outstretched and open-palmed, tear-streaked cheeks but mouth curved in a broad, beautiful grin, is the last thing Sasuke sees before everything fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would like you to recall the ending scene of the fight of kabuto vs itachi and sasuke wherein itachi was resting his head against sasuke as his reanimated corpse was floating away but its sasuke's edo tensei form doing it with a teary eyed naruto >:) 
> 
> tbh i feel like kabuto's section would've made a lot more sense if i included this deleted scene i made before that involved more detail on kabuto's relationship with sasuke back when they were both still in otogakure and orochimaru was still alive. but that deleted scene got . . . well, _deleted_ , and i don't even remember what i wanted to put there, so there you go. i'm sorry if it seems rather out of place, but i did my best in trying to make sense of it all regardless of the missing scene. besides that, i also wanted to make it parallel to how the real battle (itachi and sasuke vs kabuto) went. in general, that's how i also framed this whole story— canon divergent, yes, but with large similarities to how the actual canon material went. 
> 
> and that's it! the fic is officially finished. i'm sorry if the ending or last chapter was not what you expected it to be, but the moment i wrote the first scene of this story, i knew this was how it was going to end. if you're that discontent, then comment down something you would've liked to seen, and maybe i'll add a bonus chapter containing small snapshots of those scenes you requested for. or not. really, i just want to know what you guys think :>
> 
> thank you to everyone who has given a kudos, left a comment, bookmarked, and clicked subscribe. and of course, for reading this story. big shout out to some of the readers who have commented on almost every chapter. (i've noticed, and i'm super super happy for that. seeing your handles constantly makes me incredibly giddy). 
> 
> in truth, this fic was supposed to be a "prequel" of sorts to the main story of a what-if universe where itachi survived the battle with his little brother instead of sasuke, but i don't know if i'll ever get to write that. is it something people will want to read anyway? characterization for itachi is hard, and i don't even know if i should put a ship in that story should it ever come to light, not to mention that i don't even know _what_ ship in the first place. it'd be great if you could tell me your thoughts on those. also, you can leave questions below about this au that wasn't answered by the fic directly or was a bit vague, and i'll definitely answer. 
> 
> stay tuned for my other naruto fics! i hope i see you there too hehe :3

**Author's Note:**

> (unbeta'd)
> 
> thank you for reading! kudos and comments are very much appreciated. hit me up in my [cc](https://curiouscat.me/youngwings) or [tumblr](https://softpunks.tumblr.com/) if you want to talk!


End file.
